Of Inferior Design: A Maximum Ride Parody
by MillieKittan
Summary: Sequel: Fractured. Max and Fang search for Fang's parents but find out about a sinister plan by the school when they try to take him back. Are his parents involved, or innocent bystanders? MR2 Parody-ish. No flock. Adventure/Humour/Romance. FA
1. Damnit Ari, DIE!

**Alrighty, finally, I;m going to start publishing this one. This is the sequel to Fractured: A Maximum Ride Parody, an the title is a WIp because i suck at them. Im currently writing part four of this one, so i should put a few more up in the next few days, but beware updates might slow down due to:**

**1) job, 2) writers block, 3) getting distracted by the other two things im writing.**

**This is an apology in advance. I hope you like. =)

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They'd started moving the following morning, as soon as the sun rose between the trees. They didn't want to risk being found again so soon after getting away. Fang insisted on carrying Max for the first half of the day, despite still being shattered. He'd barely slept a wink, sleeping lightly meant every single small rustle of leaves or animal noise woke him up.

_That was a damn busy forest…_ Fang thought to himself, swallowing a yawn as he readjusted Max in his arms. Looking down, he noted she was fast asleep again. She had been sleeping a lot lately. A lot more than normal. He guessed it made sense with all the injuries and things she'd obtained in the last few days, but it worried him still. He had no idea what the symptoms of their genetics falling apart would be, it could easily start with sleeping and voices in your head.

He didn't want to lose her.

Holding her a little tighter he rode an air current, enjoying the breeze on his face as it helped keep him awake. They were flying towards Washington DC, another huge place. They were flying towards Fang's parents. That idea itself had him on edge.

He hadn't ever really considered that he might have parents in the world. Right from the start, he assumed he was either a test tube baby or his parents were young and stupid. Probably drug addicts. They gave him up for money or something.

Now, he'd seen a picture. They looked sensible. Happy. Not like drug addicts at all. He swallowed hard, looking down when Max gripped some of his shirt, her eyes scrunched up as she had a nightmare. He wasn't sure how he would react to parents, let alone how they would react to him.

Or the idea of taking Max in as well.

Sighing, he looked back up at the expanse of sky before them. It was going to be at least six hours before they got to DC, he predicted, including a refreshment break. In a few hours, he'd drop down and wake her up. She'd probably kill him for carrying her all this way, as she protested to being carried at all, but he didn't mind. She needed the rest.

On top of all the parents and Max's injuries, something else was bugging him. He hadn't meant to, but he'd become a murderer. Ari wasn't exactly a cute little kid anymore, and he'd done enough to deserve some kind of sticky end, but Fang hadn't wanted to be the one to deliver it. The cold emptiness in his eyes still floated through his mind and, for the millionth time, he had to shake it away.

He still couldn't place why all of is anger exploded onto Ari when he was already dead. It didn't make him feel any better, just shaky from anger and adrenaline, and probably scared the hell out of an already majorly freaked out Max. He wished, deep inside, that he was still alive.

Just so he could kick his butt to next Thursday for hurting Max.

A few hours of flight later, he dropped down into the almost abandoned car park of an I-Hop and readjusted Max in his arms. She was still sound asleep, her grip now loosely on his sleeve as she slept peacefully against his chest. Fang smiled, wiping a small strand of hair out of her face.

She scrunched her nose up slightly before blinking sleepily, tilting her head up to look at Fang. She mimicked his smile, letting go of his shirt and curling her arm against him.

"Nice sleep?" he asked gently, lightly kissing her head.

"Mm…" Max yawned, covering her mouth with both hands quickly. Fang chuckled, dropping her legs so she could get to her feet.

"How about some dinner?" he asked, motioning to the I-Hop a few steps away from them. "Then we'll get going again." Max shook her head, receiving a raised eyebrow from Fang.

"Dinner yes," she replied, taking his hand and walking him towards the doors. "Then we find somewhere _you_ can get some sleep before we fly through the night."

"I'm fine," Fang replied, giving her hand a small squeeze. It was then he nearly walked to the I-Hop's closed doors. He blinked as Max pulled him backwards, and looked at her. She was biting her lip, a smirk plastered across her face. He sighed.

"Alright, I'll get some sleep before we go, ok?" Max nodded, pulling the door open for him to step inside, trying desperately to suppress her giggles as she followed him in.

*~*~*~*

Max sat in the near darkness, the flicking of the fire Fang had started the only thing illuminating her face. Looking to the side, she could see Fang sleeping on his side, an arm under his head as a pillow. His chest rose and fell slowly, rhythmically. Max smiled slightly before looking back towards the fire.

So much had happened in the last day. They'd found out that Fang might even have parents around. It scared Max. Completely and utterly. He was the last remainder of her flock, her _boyfriend,_ for crying out loud.

She didn't want to lose him. She _couldn't _lose him.

_**You cant stop it if that's what he wants, Max.**_

_Maybe not, but I don't necessarily have to leave without him…_ Max thought back, playing with a twig. _I could stay…with his family…_

_**What if they cant keep you, Max? Or they don't want you?**_

_Fang wouldn't choose them over me,_ she retorted, glaring angrily a the fire in front of her. _He wouldn't leave me…_

_**Think about it, Maximum. Be prepared, anything could happen.**_

She didn't even bother thinking a response. She didn't _want_ to think about that. It was the on think niggling at her conscious more than anything in the world. She couldn't go on without him. If he left her for his parents, she had no idea what she would do.

Max shook the thoughts away, focusing on the other issue. Ari.

She was distracted from her thoughts by a very soft whimper. Turning her head, she saw Fang shaking slightly in his sleep, his fists clenching and unclenching around a couple of lumps of grass. The Voice had said Ari was her brother. That Fang had killed her only brother. He said he hadn't meant to, and Max couldn't deny he deserved it, but some stupid minuscule part of her didn't believe him.

The idea Fang would kill someone made her shudder. Yes, he was strong. Like a friggen' brick wall. But he'd never intentionally end someone's life, would he? She still felt a small amount of sorrow for the poor boy, who just wanted to please the father too wrapped up in something else.

Her flock. A pang of guilt hit her stomach as Fang jerked once more before waking. He was sat upright and doing a three-sixty in seconds, his eyes finally falling on Max's own.

"How long was I out?" he asked, looking around at the darkness. It had still been light when he fell asleep, now it pitch black minus the fire Max had managed to keep going.

"Barely two hours," she replied, keeping his eye contact. "You better get some more sleep." His response was a head shake before shuffling closer to the fire.

"I'm fine," he said, looking back to her eyes from gazing at the flames. "Lets put this fire out and get moving. We'll be in DC soon after dawn at this rate." Max smiled softly, getting a small smile back.

She'd make sure he got lots of sleep before they found his parents. He was beginning to look like a zombie. Max got to her feet and started kicking dirt on the measly excuse for a fire. It went out in a couple of seconds, suffocated by the dirt. Then the pair spread their wings leapt into the night air.

*~*~*~*

Max closed her eyes as she rode an air current, enjoying the calmness that came with flying so high in the air. No people, no erasers. Nothing up here was an immediate threat to her or Fang. Just them and the vast expanse of sky greeting their wings.

It was heaven.

She took a glance at Fang. He was flying next to her, his long, dark wing overlapping hers as he matched her stroke for stroke. It felt good to feel his wing brush against hers every now again, comforting.

Letting her eyes wander to his face, she noticed the dark lines forming under his eyes. He was seriously behind on his sleep, and the overnight haul seemed to be taking its toll. Not that he'd admit it, he'd pretend he was fine until he fell out of the sky from exhaustion.

He could be an idiot sometimes. But he was her squishy, iron-willed idiot.

"How close are we?" she asked curiously, noting the sun was beginning to make an appearance again. He turned his head towards the sun, then looked straight forwards, his jaw fixed in concentration when he realised he'd undershot their flight time.

"Maybe an hour," he said, turning his attention back to Max. She looked well and rested, minus the cuts and bruises on her beautiful face already beginning to heal. She was looking out towards the city they were heading into, making an estimate of the time herself, her powerful wings gently brushing against his on the upstroke.

"Possibly and hour and a half," she added to the end of his statement. "We probably need the far side of the city or something…"

"Dunno, haven't figured out where we should be looking yet." Fang mused aloud. The papers in his back pocket were the ones that led them to DC in the first place. But it had no home address, even a street name. Just DC, followed by a sequence of numbers, probably encrypted coding. "We can give that another crack over breakfast…"

"…I hear something…" Max whispered, glancing at him sideways. He raised an eyebrow, now listening intently to the quiet morning.

_Swooosh_

"I hear it too," he murmured, adrenaline already leaking into his veins. "Sounds like…a flock of birds..? Behind us, maybe…"

Max looked over her shoulder and instantly wished she hadn't. On the horizon, getting closer and closer, was a dark mass of what looked like enormous birds, their wings making a large swoosh as they work in unison as best they could. Max turned on the spot and zoned in with her raptor vision, flapping her wings just enough to keep her airborne.

Large, gangly, awkward birds. With wolf faces.

_Crap._

"Flying erasers, Fang!" she shouted as she started beating her wings faster to catch up with him. "About twenty, at least. Gaining on us fast."

"Then running…well, flying…is pointless," he mused, his dark eyes reflecting what he was thinking.

"Hope you're up for it," she muttered to herself. Fang furrowed his brows at her, confirming she had indeed said that loud enough for him to hear. That's why she didn't want him to be knackered. He may be able to fly, but could he still fight?

She didn't have time to consider anything before the new erasers were upon then, scratching and slashing at the couple from every angle imaginable. They were coming in waves, five at a time at least. by the time the first five were beginning to fall, the next wave had made it too them.

All too soon they were severely outnumbered by the winged demons, ranging from erasers ready to fall into the water below and fresh ones still full of fire. Max was holding her own, just dodging cuffs and slashes as she kicked an eraser in the chest. Its repulsive air left its chest in a _whoosh_ before it fell. She was too wrapped up in a spat with five other erasers to hear the satisfying splash as it hit the water.

_**Fang.**_

Max shot up, letting the five erasers collide and shriek as claws meant for her met eraser flesh. Above her, Fang was wrapped up in a fight with three erasers, but he wasn't as fast as he should be. Where he should have been nimbly dodging kicks and punches, he was taking over half of them at full throttle. He was breathing heavily, holding his arm as another eraser joined the fight, taking a slash at him unrepentantly, catching his side.

Fang flinched, pressing his arm tight against the graze as he fell a few feet, out of the eraser hoard. Flapping awkwardly, he gave Max a silent stare. Just for a second. She saw the pain in his eyes, hidden behind his silent front.

"Ashneh," she shouted, telling him to get lost in their secret language way back from the school. Reluctantly, he nodded a yes and made a hasty retreat as Max soared up to whack the newcomer under the chin. It dodged, catching her wrist and pulling her tight to him, almost nose to nose.

"Hello, Max." Oh God. She recognised him straight away. So much for being flippin' _dead._

"Get lost Ari!" She shouted, kicking him with both feet right in the chest. He looked winded, enough to let go of her wrist. Max shot upwards, away from the other erasers trying to box her in and did a quick downturn. Grabbing Ari's wings on the way down the eraser yelped in surprise, not having time to react as she dragged him at full speed to the water below.

With all the force she could muster, she launched him towards the ocean, her shoes just catching he waters surface as she angled back up again. She rose up to meet what remained of the erasers, claws poised and teeth baring.

"Who wants to be next?" she growled, ready to soar forwards at any second. Glancing down, she saw a winded and soaking Ari manage to get out of the water and start flying away, droplets flying off his wings as he flapped awkwardly away from the fight. Max looked back up. The other erasers were looking edgy.

Max cracked her knuckles before getting into a battle pose, waiting for one of them to make the first move. No body changed position for a good few minutes, until one eraser made a move to withdraw. The others didn't need to be told twice, flapping awkwardly after him. Max smiled to herself. It was awesome to feel powerful.

Suddenly, she remembered Fang. His flying had been off when he left. Suddenly, panic set in as she searched the sky for his familiar figure. Then she saw him, off into the distance, nearing the beach. His flaps were still uneven and rapid, his body at a slightly funny angle. Max poured on the speed, flapping as fast as she could to catch up with him.

"Fang!" She yelled when she got close enough for him to hear. He didn't look round as she got closer, she noted he was very slowly loosing altitude, his flaps become more irregular and ragged. She flew over him, wrapping her arms around his middle.

"Close your wings, Fang." She instructed. He squirmed in her arms, trying to get away.

"S'fine…you cant carry me…" It certainly was not fine. His voice was strained, slurred. Max shifted her arm down a little further, swallowing bile as she felt her arm press against warm liquid. Her other arm wrapped itself around his shoulders.

"Wings in _now_, Fang." She instructed, her motherly voice coming out as panic set into her brain. "I can keep us in a slow descent. We'll hit the beach." When he didn't pull his wings in, Max was about to go off on one at him.

Then, they went limp instead.

Suddenly, Fang became a dead weight in her arms. Max flapped rapidly to keep them from picking up too much speed. The beach was already coming up to meet then at a fast pace. At the last second, Max pulled her wings in an twisted him around, aiming her back at the sand. She suppressed a yelp as her back collided with the sand. Grains dispersed everywhere from the impact, leaving a small dip where she and Fang now lay.

Pushing him off of her, Max crawled onto her hands and knees, pressing two fingers against his neck to check for a heart beat. It was slower than it should be, thready. Max's attention quickly jumped to is side, the blood spewing out of him turning the sand a deep red. Yanking up his shirt, Max swallowed bile. Ari had left three deep gashed not just in his jumper and shirt, but in his side. Gaping wounds spewing blood met her and she sat here, her eyes wide, staring.

_**Stop the bleed.**_ The Voice pulled her back into consciousness. Fang was still pouring blood, the stain in the sand getting ever darker and wider. Pulling off her own jacket, she pushed it hard against the wounds, tears pricking the corners of her eyes as she watched the material begin staining red.

"You cant die, Fang!" She half shouted, half whispered, shaking in desperation as more of her jacket turned a sickly red colour. He tried to gurgle something, tried to move, but Max held him firmly still as she pressed on the wounds. The blood wasn't stopping. Max was on the verge of being hysterical, not noticing the jogger staring at her in shock.

When she did, he was already calling an ambulance.

Max was torn. Hospitals were too much like the school. Syringes and bleach and tests. Places people went into and never came out of. Every part of her wanted to grab Fang and run, hide from the approaching sirens. But looking at her sodden jacket, she knew it was hopeless. Without outside help, he was going to die. She looked back at him. He was no longer tyrying to move.

An ambulance driver pushed her away, another one checking his pulse as the first pressed down on the wounds on his side. Max was livid, the fear turning her into a shell of fear and despair. There was no going back. She'd have to face her fears and get into the ambulance, and trust these people knew what they were doing.

Fang's life depended on it.


	2. The Deal

_**IMPORTANT NOTE TO THOSE WHO GOT THIS AS A REPEAT CHAPTER. I messed up -w- because im daft like that. This is what you should have seen, not everything, as most of that has been rewritten because I'm OCD. I edit it at least 10 times before i post it. Reeeally sorry dudes, especially to Strawberry Shortcake and Crazy since you bothered to review as well .-. hope i havent ruined the story for you.**_

**Ok, here's another update because I've been writing this one like a mad thing ^^; since i supposedly have a job but he's not giving me any hours. Rude, huh? So, yeah, here it is. Reviews would be greatly appreciated =3 they keep me appy so i write more, yaaaaaay~.**

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CRAZY: Duuuuuude, good t see you're reading this one too =3 Yeah, i've been kinda mean to Max recently...and it kinda gets worse but not in angsty way, which is good =3 I think... I hate hospitals too, gotta go in for an ear problem in august. Right pair we make, eh? =P cheers for the review ^^

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**Part 2**

It was easy to say Max was _well_ out of her comfort zone. She was sat in a plastic chair facing three doctors. Their long, white coats had every muscle in her body twitching, let alone the smells burning her nose. Antiseptics. Blood.

It all reminded her of the school.

Behind them was a sight she never wanted to see. Being as steely as she could, she'd blinked back the tears as a nurse had lead her into this room. The makeshift bed Fang had been placed on when he was rushed into the ambulance was half hidden by the doctors. He hadn't been transferred to a real bed yet, considering he was to be rushed into the next available operating room.

She couldn't stop her eyes being drawn to him as the doctors spieled medical words for his condition. He was still bleeding badly, a pool of blood beginning to develop on the floor the nurse was now panicking about. Before then, he'd already looked white as a sheet. Wings had that effect on people, apparently. Now she looked sickly.

"Miss..?" her attention was pulled back to the middle doctor. He looked so much like a whitecoat it wasn't funny, stethoscope and random pens sticking out of the pocket in his coat. She blinked at him, hoping she didn't look too dazed. "We need your assistance…"

"We've never seen a boy like him before," the doctor on his left stated. This one was a woman, dark skinned with frizzy black hair pulled back tightly into a pony tail. "We don't now what's normal for him…"

"Are you like him?" Max felt like a yoyo as her eyes were drawn once again to the doctor in the middle. She studied him, but unlike the whitecoats she didn't see the same emotions in his eyes. He looked concerned. Intrigued, but concern clouded his other emotions. After a few moments pause, she nodded.

"May I..?" The third doctor, a young lad probably fresh out of university, finally spoke. Max noted him take the stethoscope from around his neck and hold it up, silently asking if he could listen to her heart rate. Max nodded again, resisting the urge to get up and run as he leant forwards, pressing the metal to her shirt.

His eyes opened wide. "That's fast…"

"Yeah…Nick's should be faster than it is at the moment…" She wasn't sure why Fang had suddenly become Nick, but the name seemed to…fit, having decided they might react funny to a name like 'Fang'. She looked over to him worriedly. The nurse was pressing against his dripping bandages with another wad of cloth. Time was running out.

The doctor in the middle's beeper went off, and he quickly checked it before getting straight to his feet. "We can repair the damage, Miss..?"

"Max. Just Max."

"Max, we can repair the damage, but he's lost a lot of blood. He'll need a transfusion during the operation or he'll most certainly die."

"Our blood is different, like a bird's…" some of the snippets she'd picked up from the whitecoats in the school flowed through her brain. "Like, nuclei in them..? I think…"

"Then you'd better donate some, Max. Quickly. Then he can be rushed into surgery. The longer we leave it, the smaller his chance of getting though this becomes."

She didn't need to be told twice. Max was flying down the hall following another nurse to a clean consultation room within seconds. She clenched her eyes tight shut as the needle was inserted into her arm, trying to ward off images of the school. It didn't hurt, like she expected it to. Instead it was just uncomfortable, but was over before she really realised it. The nurse handed her a cookie and sped out with the blood, giving her brief directions to the waiting room.

Max stood and immediately wished she hadn't, the lack of blood now in her system making her woozy. She flopped back into the seat and took a bite of the cookie, blinking a couple of times to set her head straight. It struck her at that point she'd neglected to give a fake name when asked. She'd been so concerned with Fang's survival she'd neglected her usual precautions.

Cursing under her breath, Max finished the cookie in another bite before attempting to get up again. The world was still dizzying, but not as badly as the first time. Unsteadily, she followed the nurse's directions to the waiting room and flopped into a plastic chair right at the back.

The next four hours were the longest of her life.

She had plenty of time to inspect the waiting room, and the nervousness and worry to make her study it in depth. Every exit point was catalogued in her head as she did so, looking at the sky blue walls to the darker blue carpet. People came and went while she sat there, called out by doctors or nurses as she tried to keep from staring at the clock or letting panic take hold.

"A Miss…Max?" Finally. Max sprang to her feet and literally sprinted to the nurse. She was dressed in a blue matching the walls of the waiting room, a clipboard in her hands.

"Is he ok? He survived, right?" Max couldn't suppress the desperation in her voice as she questioned the lady. She took her sweet time skimming down the details on her chart. Max hopped from one foot to another nervously.

"Yes." She let out a huge sigh in relief as the nurse continued. "He's in room ten, just down the hall. Can I ask what relation yo-"

"Girlfriend!" Max shouted over her shoulder, already sprinting to room ten. Max tried the door, it was unlocked. Slipping inside, she tip toed very slowly over to Fang's bed. He looked so...un-Fang-like. Pale and delicate, a drip attached to his wrist as it replaced nutrients he so desperately needed. Max brushed a few strands of hair from his forehead, away from his eyes, and let her gaze roll down him.

His shirt was off, as the paramedics had left him. Where Ari had raked his flesh was now a thick wad of bandage, clean and tidy wrapped around him. No blood soaked through it. Blinking back tears, Max leant down and kissed his forehead, lingering against his skin for a few seconds before finally straightening back up.

"Get well, Fang." She whispered, gently stroking over his cheek. His normally tanned skin looked almost as pale as her own. She hated seeing him like this.

"Max..?"

She looked round to be met by four figures in the doorway. One of them she recognised as the young doctor from before, looking flustered and agitated. The other three were new. They were dressed in black suits ad white shirts, carrying briefcases at their sides. They all looked middle aged. One of them stepped forwards, his hand outstretched.

"Hello, Max. I'm Gary." He smiled at her, keeping his hand held out. Max looked down at it, then back up at his face.

"Can I help you?" she asked softly. She didn't like the look of these guys, especially that smile. It seemed almost too wide and happy, like one of the smiles she gave Fang when she was being pretend-fine. Gary looked offended and returned his arm to his side, letting a co worker step forwards instead.

"We know what you're going through, Max." He stated coolly, his glasses hiding his eyes from her vision. Max tilted her head. He _had_ to be kidding. "We just want to help you and Nick."

"He's getting better, the doctors fixed him." Max stated simply, taking a glance round at his sleeping form. He didn't look peaceful, like he did in a natural sleep. His mouth was slanted like a slight frown and his cheeks pale, almost dead looking. Max repressed a shudder.

"That's not what we mean," the third and final guy, a little chubbier than his friends, added. "Let's leave Nick in peace and step outside. We have a room booked for us."

Max sighed inwardly as they held the door open, letting her leave first. This wasn't going to be fun.

-

Wrinkling her nose, Max was desperately trying to ignore the steaming plate of food under her nose. Her eyes were almost watering as the smell of sausages, bacon and mash potato wafted up, tempting her to dive head first into it. But she refrained, instead staring at the three on the other side of the table.

She'd learned in the school you didn't trust what _anyone_ gave you, especially if they looked too official for their smart butt talking. They sat in silence, Max waiting for them to speak and them waiting for her to start eating, but no body moved.

"You must be starving," Gary finally broke the silence, motioning to her food with one hand. "Why don't you have a bite to eat?"

_You have no idea how much I want to…_ Max thought longingly as bacon tickled her nostrils. Instead, she shook her head slowly, folding her arms across her chest and leaning backwards in her chair. Gary looked at his co workers on each side, who both shrugged at him, not sure what to say. The silence was getting boring.

"So who called you, the nervous little guy?" Max ventured, letting her eyes flit between their faces. "Got kinda freaked out, called in the big shots, or what?"

"Well," the guy on the left leant forwards as he replied, close enough for her to read his badge. Nathaniel. "We can answer all of your questions in some time, Max. But first we need a few of ours answered, you know, an info for info deal."

She hated it already.

"Will you leave if I refuse to answer questions?" she queried, leaning back further and pushing a boot against the desk. Nathaniel looked back at Gary, who shook his head in response. Max sighed, dropping her foot back to the floor and leaning forwards on her elbows. "Better get this over with then. Who's first..?"

The man on Gary's other side, chubby John, plonked his briefcase on the table and began flipping through paperwork, finally stopping when he reached a thin file. He closed the suitcase, leaving it on the table, and flipped it open.

"So, Its Max." he said simply. Max rolled her eyes.

"Duh."

"Is that short for anything?" he peered over the small file in his hands. She shook her head. "Maxine, maybe?"

"Just Max," she re-alliterated, apparently he didn't understand a head shake. He gave her a small, unnecessary glare over his file before flipping over a page. An awkward silence enthused as the other men started flipping through their own suitcases and files.

"So where are your parents?" Gary asked, his own nose buried in paperwork. Max looked between the three, an eyebrow raised. Did they have data on her and fang in there? Where they from the School?

"They're missionaries in India," Max slapped herself a mental high five for awesome on-the-spot-ness.

"And Nick?"

"His parents went with mine," she responded, her face straight. Another glare, this time from Gary. Max tried not to squirm in her seat under his gaze; it was unnerving, like he could _see_ the lies. They all buried their noses back into the paperwork in front of them, and a silence fell over the room yet again.

"Have you ever heard of a man called Jeb Batchelder?" Nathaniel held out a photo for Max to examine. She took it and leaned back in her seat, letting her eyes scan over his familiar face. Looking at him made her feel sick to the stomach. Half of her wanted to give the lying what-sit up to these people and watch him squirm. Then, the rest of her was much more concerned with self preservation.

"Never seen him," she replied, holding the picture out to him again. Nathaniel took it back, that same scrutinising glare as he filed the photo in his briefcase. Max gave him a sweet smile before settling back into her seat, crossing one leg over another.

"Max," Gary leant forwards, a serious look on his face. Max raised an eyebrow as he continued. "We want to help you and…Nick. But we need you to be truthful with us. And all of the data you've giv-"

He seemed to pause mid-sentence, staring at Max. Her eyebrow went up a little higher. "What?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to the side. Then she looked behind her. In the doorway was a very important looking woman. Her blonde hair was tied back in a short pony tail, and she was wearing a black suit jacket and white shirt with a black skirt. Heels that added a few inches to her height clacked on the floor as she approached the table.

"I'll take it from here," she smiled. She _smiled._ Much more than the others had done, just glaring at Max over papers was anything but friendly. Like she had a remote control, all three of the men stood and clipped their suitcases closed, nodding as the filed out of the room. Gary was the last out and shut the door behind him. Max let out a silent sigh.

This felt like it was never going to end.

The woman then turned to smile at Max. She was quite pretty. However old she was, she'd been aging well. It was impossible to tell if she was early twenties or late forties, her face looked kind and considerate. After Jeb, Max didn't judge on appearances. They could be deceiving.

"Hello Max. I'm Anne." she said, the soft tone in her voice an incredible comparison against the sharp questions of the others. Max nodded in response, turning in her chair to look at the woman properly. "I'm here to offer you a deal. No more questions. I'm sure that's better."

"What kind of deal?" Max queried, folding her arms over the back of the chair.

"We know your parents aren't missionaries, Max." Max kept her face straight as she mentally panicked. They had a lot of data in their files, obviously. "Stories of you and your friend in there have been filtering through to us for a while now. Some of them are quite…shocking, to say the least."

Max shrugged, resting her chin on the back of the chair. "How does that have anything to do with a deal?"

"Well, the problem being is that medical care like Nick is receiving isn't free." _Bugger._ "But, if you allow us to study you we'll make sure he ge-"

"Study means?" She wasn't going to waste time on the upsides. If it was more needles and tubes and what-not they'd find another way to pay the bills.

"Non invasive techniques." Anne stated, the smile fading into an apologetic face as she saw Max's face sour. "You would be living with me, in an out of the way house, like a normal family."

_Fat chance,_ Max thought as she said 'family'. Her family had been killed by the man they were searching for.

"If you agree, Nick will get the best care anyone in America could hope for, free of charge. Then you'll have a home to live in. With me." She continued, the smile touching her lips again.

"With you?" Max verified, pointing at her as she said so. Anne nodded, clasping her hands in front of her and smiling broadly.

"I'm afraid to say you don't have a lot of options, Max. This is the one we can offer." She really did seem sad. It was just so…perfect. They'd need somewhere stable while Fang properly recuperated, it would be nice to have a house again.. Hot showers. Hot food, not out of a dumpster.

"As long as Nick lives," she replied finally, not looking up at Anne. It made her feel weak, to be accepting aide from someone she barely even knew. How she just had to hope to God it wasn't a trap and that Fang would be OK.

If he wasn't, she didn't know what she'd do.

-

Fang opened his eyes groggily, squinting at the bright lights that hit his eyes. It burned. He tilted his head to the side, bringing an arm up to shield them from the glare. That's when he saw Max. She was sat on a chair pulled right up close to his bed, her arms folded on the edge of the mattress and her head laying on them. He breathing was slow and steady. She was sleeping.

Fang pulled himself very slightly into a more upright position, biting his lip as muscles disagreed. A chill hit his chest, and it was then he looked down and noticed his shirt was gone, replaced only by bandages wrapped around from just above to just below his waist. Just below his waist they were going slightly yellow.

Gross.

He pulled the blankets back up to his chin, very slowly hoping not to wake Max. It didn't work. She stirred slightly, then listed her head from the blankets, blinking sleepily as she took in what she was seeing. It didn't take her long to look wide awake.

"Fang!" She shouted, springing up and wrapping her arms around his neck. She jerked him accidentally, and he flinched, but didn't say a word, raising an arm to lightly scratch between her wings.

"Hey," his voice sounded hoarse, worn. Max kissed his forehead and dropped back onto the chair holding his hand.

"You sound like crap," she smiled, giving his arm a playful punch.

"I feel like crap," he confirmed, giving her a small smirk. "And my bandages are going yellow…"

"I think they need to change those soon," Max said just as a nurse wheeled a trolley with disinfectants and bandages on them. She took one look at Fang and glared.

"You shouldn't be sitting up without support!" She shouted as bustled past Max and immediately set about pushing him tight up straight. She took Max's hand from his and pressed it to Fang's back, holding him upright as she started unwinding weeping-wound covered bandages.

Fang bit back a yelp as she slapped antiseptic onto his wound, dabbing over it with a cotton bud with a little water on it. Max saw it straight away in his eyes, and held his hand a little tighter with her spare, gently rubbing between his wings with the supporting one. The nurse then pulled fresh, clean bandages tightly around him and pinned the end to other bandages.

"Stay laying down," she commanded, slipping Fang back down against the pillow and leaving the blanket down just below his hips. "Let air to the wound for a while, makes it heal faster."

_Right,_ Fang thought as he settled back into a pillow. _It wouldn't be able to breathe even if it wanted to under all that bandage…_

As soon as she left Max crawled up onto the bed with him and curled up against his good side, nestling into his chest. Fang wrapped an arm around her waist to hold her there, his other arm laying uselessly by his side, a drip still giving him nutrients. He glared at it slightly, and Max chuckled.

"You're not allowed to eat yet," she whispered, gently tracing the bandages over the healing wound, so softly he wouldn't feel it. "No pulling it out, or you'll die…"

"Mm...guess I'd better leave it in then," he mumbled, gently stroking her side as he laid his head back and closed his eyes. Max didn't move an inch until he started drifting off for short amounts of time without realising it. She was going to pull the sheets up to his neck and let him sleep, but he asked her to stay, not taking his arm from around her middle. Very slowly, his breathing became slower and more relaxed as his arm lessened its grip on her middle until was just resting over her waist as he slept.

Max still didn't move. With her head and arm rested on his chest, she let the latest events run though her mind. She'd basically just promised herself and Fang to some kind of experiment at that woman's house, no matter how real and non invasive it was, she'd still know she was being studied.

Closing her eyes, Max started letting herself drift off to sleep, curing up very slightly against the already sleeping Fang. His heartbeat was relaxing as her mind slowly slipped into dreamland, letting the most recent dramas of their lives fade away to nothing as she slipped into blissful darkness.

Tomorrow. They could deal with it all tomorrow.


	3. Breakfast in Bed

**Huge sorry for my mess up yesterday .-. I can be such a ditz sometimes. That and I'm ill, that's my excuse. But yeah, this is part three. Until part 5 it isn't going to be edited again, so I'm very sorry to anyone who reads this that read _everything_ i posted yesterday. Couple of days and edited stuff will be up. And I mean edited to _death_, because that's what i do *shot*. By Saturday, maybe Sunday, will be new stuff =3 Again really really truly sorry for my muck up.**

**Dog did it.

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Thank you for the reviews from Shortcake and Crazy. They're appreciated =3 I hate skirts too, lol, i know her pain. My mum made me wear one to school for like, two years into high school. Jeez, that was the worst.

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**Part 3**

At three in the morning in the almost empty hospital, a small creak shattered the silence as Max pushed open the recovery room door. It was typical the one night she needed to find a bathroom, it would be in a place she wasn't familiar with and despised. She padded in her socks along the hallway, following the sign that lead to the bathroom. It was a single, full room with a toilet and a sink, and a lock on the door.

Slipping inside and letting the latch click shut, Max washed her face in the sink. Rubbing some more water into her neck, she sighed gently. It felt like she was burning up from the inside out, her blood boiling. Though her skin didn't feel particularly warm to touch. She kept her eyes closed, letting the cold water fall down her face, washing off yesterday's drama.

Opening her eyes, she studied her reflection in the small stained mirror. Her face looked paler than usual, grey lines under her eyes growing darker with worry. Leaning forwards she bent her neck over the bowl, using the sink edges as support as thoughts organised themselves in her brain.

She suddenly understood her own reasons for accepting Anne's deal. Yes, they couldn't afford to pay the bills, but they could easily just fly out a hospital window and into the sunset. After all, they couldn't exactly call the police on them. No one would believe their story.

So why did she say yes? Because she was scared.

Maximum Ride. Scared. She laughed awkwardly at the thought. She hadn't been scared since they lived in fear at the school, always worrying what would happen next, if one of them would be taken and never come back. If they would die. The constant niggling of expiration dates was pushed right to the back of her mind as the same fear ran over and over in her head.

They were going to DC to find Fang's parents. He might have caring _parents_ willing to take him in like he never left. Beforehand, she never thought Fang would leave her for parents he barely knew. Now, after what the voice had said, she was scared she'd lose the last thing she cared about.

Opening her eyes, she saw the necklace he'd bought her dangling over the water, swinging slightly. She took it in her hand and held it up, running her fingers across the smooth surface. It wasn't a promise he'd never leave her, but at the same time she wished it was. He'd bought it while they were hopeless, given it to her while parent searching was still a surreal idea. He was the only reason she stayed strong, why she didn't curl up and wait for death to take her.

A silent tear fell down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away, scolding herself. Whatever he decided to do, she'd support him. She could always go and visit or something, its not like she'd never see him again.

With that false hope set in her mind, Max returned to bed, curling up against Fang once more.

*~*~*~*

It was 7am when Anne pushed Nick's hospital room door open just enough to have a peak inside. She was still wearing the same suit getup as yesterday, even if it did look a bit dishevelled from spending the night sleeping in the waiting room. Her hair was lose about her shoulders, hanging just off them in gentle kinks. She stifled a yawn as she cradled the hot coffee cup marked **World's Best Nurse** in her hands.

She'd really need this coffee today.

Nick had been in a critical condition, meaning he'd be bed ridden for at least a week, probably longer. Max had argued for hours about not leaving him, and thought she hated to admit it, Anne had lost dreadfully. Max was too damn stubborn to argue with, let alone reason with, so she had a word with the doctors and got her a spare room for the night.

_Spare room,_ Anne laughed silently, sipping her coffee. _I bet the bed hasn't even been used. _In front of her was Nick, sleeping soundly. Curled up against him was Max, nestled into his rising and falling chest. Both seemed completely at ease with the situation, which Anne honestly hadn't expected.

Her file said they had a brotherly-sisterly relationship, but this was just that little step further. Those files needed to be updated. As she watched them sleeping, Anne couldn't help the small smile that crossed her lips.

They looked kinda cute.

Carefully, she pulled the door to until it clicked shut. Even at this early hour the hospital was buzzing with nurses, doctors and patients. The breakfast trolley was being wheeled around to the more elderly patients who were already awake in the next ward. Because of the age Max had given them, Nick had been put in the child's ward, but with an adult bed because he was incredibly tall for his age. Seemed kid of pointless to her to put him in a child ward, but the doctors insisted.

Returning to the waiting room she'd been sleeping in until recently, a few of the seats were now occupied by people with bumps, bruises and worried looking faces. Picking up the soft folder she'd left on one of the seats, Anne made a hasty retreat to the nurse's station and borrowed a seat. A flash of her badge told the nurses not to argue.

Flipping the folder open, she scanned through Max's brief information page, then Nick's, who's name she'd pencilled onto the top of the page. Taking another sip, she waited until Max woke up at least, so she could try the persuasion again. Until then it was light reading.

She wanted to know what she was getting into.

*~*~*~*

Max had been knocked out of her shallow, un-restful sleep by the door clicking shut. Despite it being closed so softly, she still heard it, her sensitive hearing trained on such discrete noises. Looking up briefly, she nuzzled back into her warm, breathing cushion and groaned.

She'd have to deal with Anne _all _day this time.

_Wait…cushions aren't supposed to breathe.._. Looking down, she realised she was nestled into, well, Fang. His chest to be exact. His _bare_ chest. Max let a soft smile touch her lips as she buried her face deeper into his side, wrapping an arm around his middle. Once comfy, she finally let her mind wander again.

Ari was _alive._ Had he really been dead when Fang was beating the crap out of him, or had been still breathing? The second option would seem the most logical, but with the school involved she wouldn't put it past them to bring him back from the dead. Maybe he was a zombie, like the film Fang had put on one Halloween.

She shuddered, thinking less freaky thoughts.

She'd basically promised herself and Fang into some kind of naturalistic experiment with this Anne woman. She seemed nice and caring, like a normal person rather than a sadistic whitecoat, but that didn't mean she trusted her. In fact she already despised her, for trying to pull her away from Fang when he could friggen _die._ Who does that, seriously? Max frowned as she nuzzled Fang's chest again. It worried her.

Fang suddenly took a deep breath through his nose, making her shoot her head up and check him over. He looked OK, minus his brow creased a little as his eyes screwed shut. Max knew all too well from brain explosions that was the sign of waking up to pain. Reaching up, she softly stroked his cheek and under his jaw until his muscles relaxed a little.

Groggily, he opened his eyes. "Hey," he whispered, his voice still slightly hoarse as he tried to pull himself up in bed.

"Nu uh," she muttered, holding him steady. "You have to stay laying down, remember?"

Fang rolled his eyes. "Come on, Max. That's normal people. You and I both know we heal faster. It barely even hurts now.""That why your eyes scrunched up when you woke up?" She smirked as she rested her arm back on his chest. He rolled his eyes again and flopped back on the cushion, bringing his hands up to rub his eyes just as the food trolley entered their room.

*~*~*~*

Anne gathered her stuff together and smoothed her clothes, pulling her hair back into a rough ponytail as the breakfast trolley rolled into Nick's room. If they wasn't awake already, they would be by now. Grabbing her file she walked over to the door and took a deep breath.

Showtime.

Pulling open the door, she was met with Max trying to persuade the breakfast lady to give them extra portions, but she was having none of it, shaking her head and repeating 'no' over and over. Nick looked like his head was about to explode, rubbing his temples with his fingertips. After careful negotiation and badge flashing, the whole breakfast trolley ended up by his bedside, the woman mumbling about having to go get the extras for the rest of the patients.

Fang reached for a tray and passed it, and a fork, to Max, before picking up his own. Before Anne had time to voice her opinions he was shovelling down forkfuls of pancakes, sausages and waffles along with Max.

"You still have an IV, you're not supposed to eat solid food yet…" Fang blinked at Anne, chewing his current mouthful before looking at Max.

"Who's that?" He asked, spearing another mound of scrambled eggs and eating them. He looked back at Anne, his face (a lot more colourful than it had been yesterday, she noted) set unemotionally as he chewed.

"Max," She smiled, making sure she didn't have enough time to answer her friend as she took a few steps into the room. "I'm glad I found you. Have you explained to Nick about our agreement?" Max turned to face a confused looking Fang and rolled her eyes in exasperation.

She _had_ to be a smart blonde.

Fang's raised eyebrow asked what she meant as he strained for another tray. Max reached over and held one out to him, ignoring the small glare he gave her before taking it. Now he knew how _she_ felt with the babying.

"She offered to pay your medical bills," Max started explaining quietly as he looked back up at her, chewing slowly. "…and, as we don't have insurance or anything…I made a deal…" Fang eyebrow remained raised, not responding in any other way.

"I said we'd go back with her, to her house…" There went the other eyebrow. Yay. Shock. She lowered her voice a little. "But she's an FBI agent or something, and we can always fly out of the window or whatever if she's not what she says she is…"

"Why did you even agree? We could have flown out _this_ window." Fang whispered softly, so quiet Max's enhanced hearing was having trouble picking up every word.

"It just seemed so…perfect for us, Fang." She breathed back, not looking up. Anne furrowed her eyebrows at the hushed conversation, unsure what they were discussing or if they were reconsidering the offer. But she didn't say a word, just sat with her arms folded in her lap. Pressuring them wouldn't be constructive.

"It'll be somewhere we can rest for once…like a small holiday" Max continued softly, meeting his piercing eyes. "Showers, home cooked meals, a _bed_ for God's sake. You'll need a few weeks before you're at your total best again as well, and we need to decide our next move."

Fang didn't look completely convinced as he pulled himself up into a more upright position then before, cringing very slightly as his side twinged. "And if we refuse to go..?" he queried, taking a side glance at Anne.

"They put the hospital in lock down and we're arrested by the FBI?" Max suggested, shrugging slightly. "Honestly I don't know, Fang, but do we really want to risk it?"

He was silent for a little longer, munching his way through a second, third and then a fourth tray before looking up at Max and replying, his voice a whisper. "Alright. But I want out of this place. Its making me want to jump out a window, with my wings folded in tight."

He then looked up at Anne. "Whatever Max says, I'll follow." Max smirked.

She loved it when he said that.

**R & R Please? *kitty-eyes***


	4. A MummyDearest Situation

**Next part, though i haven finished the next new bit yet so updates may slow from here on out. ^^; I hope you hate writers block as much as I do, because its hitting me like a ten tonne truck again. Not really what to write, but how to write it... silly thing. Anyway. Hope you enjoy this part. Sorry if it asnt been edited much for those who read it when i accidentally posted all of it ^^;

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**CRAZY: sent you a message regarding my muck up. really sorry about that btw ^^; i can be such a ditz. Thank you for the review =3 its much appreciated.

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**Part 4**

Suspicion hit Max like a steam train right from the off, since this woman was going to be 'caring for them', as she told the doctors, for a little while, she wanted to know what she was up against. Even when she was helping Fang into the car her senses were on overdrive, checking the car over, that the seatbelts weren't razor sharp.

She'd learned to expect _anything_ by now.

Though helping Fang didn't really mean 'helping' as such, more trying to help him get into the car while he mumbled about being able to do it himself, flinching every few seconds from pain and having general difficulty getting into the seat. He could be really stupid sometimes.

Back to the suspicion, Max noticed instantly, as you would, that Anne had a very large car for someone who apparently lived on her own. It was black, always a good style choice, but that wasn't the real issue at hand.

Guess how many seats it had, minus the driver's seat: Six.

How many flock members had the been before the incident with the school? Six.

Admittedly, that could be a total coincidence. Being in the FBI she probably had to ferry people around sometimes, though Max doubted the kind of people she ferried about would get a comfy car like this. She also seemed _way_ too at ease with this whole bird kid thing. Most people would freak out at the sight of a child with wings.

_**She **_**is**_** from the FBI, Max.**_

_Shush, I'm thinking. _Came Max's curt thought-response She was on a roll here, she didn't want interruptions. What was freakier is, though she apparently stayed in the waiting room all night, in the back seat of Anne's car were seemly hundreds of shopping bags filled with clothes and random crap teens need: shoes; hairbrushes; hair gel; toothbrushes; shower gels; towels; even new freakin' underwear.

Either she was incredibly caring and trying to be a mother figure, having stayed up all night getting this stuff and cutting slits in things, or very good at her job and had it all ready yesterday night. That or she ordered some poor schmuck around to get it all for her while she slept.

She was pretty sure FBI people could do that sort of thing.

Fang had been given the front seat, even when he feebly argued he was fine to sit in the back with Max. Anne had been impartial, happy to move the bags for him, but Max had insisted he go in the front, simply because it reclined better than the ones in the back. He spent the whole journey laying right back, his eyes closed and resting, arms folded in his lap. Max was happy he was finally trying to relax and rest, but at the same time wishing he was more alert when her own senses were on hyper drive.

It made her feel like she was over reacting.

As they got closer and closer to Anne's house, she rested her head against the window as she took in the scenery. It was pretty, all rolling hills and bales of hay, like in a movie. Her narcissistic brain twigged it as 'too perfect' as Anne pointed out horses and cows and sheep.

_The younger kids would have loved this,_ Max thought to herself as she pointed to the hundredth sheep. _I wonder if she realises how old we are…and the fact Fang is sleeping…_

Soon they were off the main road and onto a less travelled pathway, potholes and lumps missing from the road forcing Max to take her head off of the window unless she wanted a concussion. She started to feel a little travelsick as they swerved to avoid what the horses had left behind from their morning strolls. Anne turning the radio down a little once she noticed Fang.

Max leant back against the headrest, twisting her head to keep an eye on Fang. Turning the music down had been pointless, as every time the car jolted over a hole or swerved his jaw would tighten or his eyes would screw up ever so slightly. Maybe he wasn't quite ready to be out of the hospital, but that place had her climbing the walls as well. All the white coats and antiseptic brought back some pretty horrific memories for the both of them. Ones they wanted to leave in the past.

Preferably buried.

Anne hadn't wanted to move him, but he'd insisted as he pulled on the shirt a kind nurse had left for him, followed by a jumper Anne returned with a few minutes later. She said the paperwork was being taken care of and they could leave. Max had never seen him move so fast in his life, even when being chased by an eraser hoard, _and _he had a painful side wound.

Finally, the road surface started getting better as they reached a posh looking road. There was a five minute drive between each house for God's sake, the houses so far up the drives you couldn't see them through the trees lining the walls.

Finally Anne pulled out a small remote and used it to open the gates to one of the houses. It took a few seconds for the gates to open, and Anne was quickly driving through and up the concealed part of the drive way. Max spun round and watched the gates swing shut silently, locking into place.

She could fly an' all, but it still felt like a prison.

The place was massive. In fact, massive would be an _understatement. _It took a good few minutes to drive from the gates to the actual house across rolling hills of grass and flower beds. Max couldn't help her mouth dropping open slightly as she got out of the car, taking in the sheer size of the house. It was bigger than Jeb's old E-shaped house, and was two stories high to add to that. Before she came back to her senses, Fang had managed to pull himself out of the car, leaning on the door as he examined the place silently.

"Wow," he whispered so softly Max barely heard it. He took his arm off the door and shut it as Anne emerged from the driver's seat.

"Alright!" She clapped her hands together like an over caffeinated teacher, a huge smile across her face. "I'll bring in the bags and things, you two can go and find your rooms. Any room on the top floor is yours."

"Are you su-" Max started, but they were give the door key and ushered onto the porch. Taking a quick glance at Fang, she shrugged and pushed the key in the door. It clicked open. Another suspicion: she didn't want them to see what was in the trunk. Maybe she was going to stab them with needles in their sleep or something.

A hand taking hers brought her back to reality, and she looked up to Fang slightly ahead of her, keys now in his hand, waiting.

"You coming?" he asked, searching her eyes for a hint. He wondered what she was thinking about. But he didn't get any clues as she smiled at him, squeezing his hand slightly as she took her first step inside their new home.

*~*~*~*

Fang let her have the first choice of rooms, and Max was pretty sure she got the room he wanted. Not that she wanted to take it from him, but she loved it too, and he told her to have it when she was (reluctantly) going to pick one of the other rooms.

All of them were painted mutual colours; beige, white, that kind of thing. Like a newly painted house if the developers just want to get it over with a.s.a.p. Max's room was white, with a dark beige carpet. The first thing she did was take her shoes and socks off and pad along the floor bear foot. It felt so odd, having soft carpet beneath her feet instead of dirt or grass.

The main reasons she chose this room, though, were the other features. It had a double, four poster bed. One of the ones with drapes on the sides that you can pull around you, just blocking out that extra bit of sun. Max wasn't sure if she'd ever pull those down, the enclosed feeling might be a little too much for her, but it looked really cool.

The other was probably the reason Fang had wanted it. It was the only room on the floor that had a huge balcony that opened up over the back of the house, overlooking the grounds. Ann had a _lot_ of grounds. The centre was a humongous pond, which Max could distinguish fish in the clear water even from this distance. They were massive fish. The rest was either grass or paddocks containing every farm animal you could think of: Horses; cows; sheep; pigs; chickens; a dog.

It really was mind boggling.

That was where she was stood now, leaning her weight on the dark wooden banister, letting the wind play with her hair as she surveyed the masses of land and animal life. Fang was stood next to her, in a similar position as he gazed out over the garden.

"You were right." Max look round at him. He was staring at the fish pond, watching a cat try and catch a monster carp.

"In what way?" She asked as she looked over to the horse paddock. A mother and her foal were running about the field, galloping in the slowly dimming light. The thought that the kids would love it her crossed her mind, but Max quickly pushed it away. Thoughts like that either made her crumble into a teary mess or make her punch something. Neither reaction was really that constructive.

"It's perfect." He replied without looking at her, letting a smirk touch his lips as Carpzilla drowned the cat with a splash from its tail, sending it running. "Maybe too perfect."

"What I've been thinking the whole day," Max mumbled her response, tearing her eyes away from the reminder of her Flock to look at the sheep instead. There were six free rooms on this floor, and two bathrooms. This room even had its own en suite bit, shared with the bedroom on the other side.

Strange that. Six.

"So what're we going to do?" Man he was talkative tonight. Mind you, they'd been sat, cross-legged on her bed trying to decipher pages and pages of code in silence for hours on end. She didn't blame him for being talkative. She shrugged in response, pushing a bit of wayward hair behind her ear.

"Hang here for a bit, until you're all better" Fang snorted, but she continued. "We'll blow this dump when we figure out our next more, or we're forced to move."

"This is a dump?" Their eyes met as he raised en eyebrow, a grin on his facing telling her he was joking. She returned the smile, giving him a gentle thump on the top of his arm before walking back into the room, the carpet slipping between her bare toes as she headed for the bed. Max pulled the papers together into a messy pile on the comforter and picked them up, moving them to the quaint little desk on the other side of the room.

The room had a wardrobe and a little drawer unit that matched the bed, a dark brown. Mahogany, she thought Anne had said. Some kind of wood. Then there was the vanity table, or desk with a mirror to normal people. Max flopped down onto the stood in front of it and took a quick glance in the mirror, running her fingers over her flushed face.

She'd like to blame the wind, but inside she knew it was a lie. She'd been feeling very warm all day, even in the car on the way here she felt like she was burning up. Fang mentioned being warm once, but it passed. Max's seemed to be permanent, giving her a glow on her cheeks.

It was uncomfortable. Another annoyance to add to her list called life.

Fang walked up behind her and bent down a little, wrapping his arms around the tops of hers, holding them to her sides and kissing her shoulder before resting his chin there. She bought her hands up to hold his lower arms, closing her eyes and leaning into the head on her shoulder as he swayed them from side to side. Fang closed his eyes as well, willing to stay like that for the rest of the evening. His calves would hurt, but it was relaxing.

"Max! Nick! Dinner's up!" Anne's voice echoed up the stairs, interrupting their silent moment. Max sighed, moving to get up, but Fang held her a little tighter, keeping her sat in the chair as he kept them rocking.

"You OK, Max?" He whispered, turning his head to look at her flushed cheek. Her eyes were closed again, a soft smile on her lips as she swayed with him. As he spoke her eyes opened, turning her head to look at him as best she could.

"Yeah," she whispered, giving him a reassuring smile. "Just…a lot has happened, you know?" Fang returned her smile as he moved to kneel next to her, his calves folded under his thighs and resting one arm on her lap as the other came up to stroke her cheek with his thumb.

"I'm always here," he mumbled, matching her smile as he gently stroked her cheek. She tilted her head down and to the side, into his hand as his rough thumb caressed her smooth skin. Then he closed the gap between them, pressing his lips to hers as his hand held her cheek softly.

She kissed him back, gently pulling on his lower lip as he tilted his head a little more, kissing her more deeply. Wild horses pulling a bomb couldn't drag her away as Fang shuffled a little closer, leaning in, lifting his thighs from resting on his calves. Max tilted her head up very slightly to maintain the sweet, sweet contact, bringing an arm up into his hair an the other around his back. His other arm found itself around her waist, pulling her forwards. Her legs bent as she slipped off the edge of the stool, her feet slipping under the stool and her behind resting just on the edge of it, her legs bent under the seat as she held him tighter.

Much to her disappointment, he broke the kiss seconds after he pulled her to him, breathing heavily and flinching slightly. Max frowned, bringing her hand round through his hair to stroke his cheek. His jaw was tight, his eyes squeezed shut for a few seconds. It was still painful. She should have stopped him, his lips were still pale, his skin colder than it should be.

So much for being a responsible leader.

"Max? Nick? Dinner's getting cold!" The smell wafting up the stairs turned Fang's stomach, but it would turn anyone's stomach, regardless of health. Burning drifted up with a strong waft of coriander and a hint of chilli. He was sure he could smell toast as well.

"Smells like Anne cant cook either," Max commented, coaxing him to open his eyes. She was still incredibly close to him, held there by his arm. She had a smile on her face, but Fang could see the worry swimming in her eyes. He slipped his hand from her cheek to the top of her arm, mimicking her smile as he stroked it softly.

"C'mon," he said, holding her tighter still as he pulled himself back to his feet, taking her with him. "We wont know until we try it, and after hospital food, I'm game for even _your_ cooking."

"Hey!" Max protested as he set her on the floor, giving him a playful punch in the arm before taking his hand. "I can cook better than you!"

"Can't" Fang smirked, teasing her.

"Can to. I'll prove it. You and me, in the kitchen, 9am. We're making breakfast."

"If Anne agrees," he grinned.

"She will. Nudge and Angel weren't the _only_ ones with Bambi eyes, Fang. It's a girl thing"

*~*~*~*

Dinner was interesting, to say the least. Anne really had tried to make a nice dinner. She even made tonnes extra than usual, having noticed how much they ate in the hospital. Problem was, it didn't quite…work. She'd cooked chilli from cans. Five cans, to be exact, heating it up in saucepans. The burning smell was coming from the toaster. Apparently she was just as apt at making toast as Max was.

Meaning completely hopeless.

Max put another mouthful of chilli and charcoal in her mouth and chewed slowly. Fang was right, this was _way_ better than hospital food. But their breakfast duel for tomorrow was still on. Anne had already agreed to be the taster, saying it was going to be like 'Master Chef'. Apparently a TV program of some kind.

"So, day after tomorrow, you start school." Anne casually broke the toast-crunching before putting another forkful in her mouth. Fang stopped chewing and glanced sideways at Max, who'd almost spat her mouthful out in surprise.

"Wait, what?" she asked after swallowing, grabbing her drink and taking a huge glug. Fang's eyes slid to his other side, where Anne was seated, finishing her mouthful before talking.

"You know, school. I figured you could try and have a normal life now, with me. So I enrolled you in a school." Both bird kids caught each others eyes at the same time, an eyebrow raised. Max then furrowed hers, and Fang shrugged, spearing another lump of toast and chilli on his fork as he nudged his head towards Anne. Silent conversations.

Almost as good as the old secret language at the School.

"We wont fit in there," Max said, laughing very slightly at the end of her sentence, picking up her fork again. "We're too old to just _start_ school."

"You can go into a school at any time," Anne said, looking at her innocently. "We'll say you transferred, get Phyllis to draw up some papers saying so. They'll run tests to check your abilities and place you in the correct classes and things."

Phyllis was Anne's 'behind-the-scenes' organiser that was incredibly dedicated, underpaid for the amount of work that she did, and never asked questions. The bags of clothes and stuff in the back of Anne's car had been a result of Phyllis and an all-nighter in a store the FBI made stay open really late. The files on them Anne had been carrying in the hospital had also been a product of Phyllis' dedication to research.

Good old Phyllis.

Max wished she had the gift of the gab, like Nudge. Then she could have talked Anne out of her ridiculous idea and they could go back to relaxing. Instead, she drew a blank. Fang wasn't being particularly useful as he got up to make more toast.

"Good," Anne smiled, taking a sip from her drink. "I already got you your uniforms and books and things." Max looked up. She was till smiling that smile, the one that was beginning to agitate Max more and more every time she saw it.

"We have to wear uniforms?"

"Yep. And _no_ wing slits. So you'll look normal, like everyone else."

"So we can't fly there and back?" Max wasn't sure she wanted to look normal. She was a mutant freak, but she liked being that way. It made her who she was: Maximum Ride, butt-kicker extraordinaire. That and it meant they'd either have to drive there, or walk. Both weren't the most appealing options.

"We don't want to risk someone seeing you. I'll give you a lift in, but you'll have to walk home." Anne stated as she laid her knife and fork neatly on her plate and folded her hands in her lap. "I'll be at work, but it isn't that far away."

"Right," Max commented, already hating the idea as she played with the last bit of chilli on her plate. Fang had slipped back into his chair, a fresh plate of chilli and non-burnt toast half eaten in front of him. For someone recovering, he had a big appetite.

_Probably a good thing, _Max thought as she pushed the last of the chilli into her mouth, placing the knife and fork as Anne had and pushing her plate slightly away. Anne took the napkin off her lap and walked around the table, picking up Max's empty plate and putting it on top of hers.

"Did you like it?" She asked as she took them to the sink, slipping them into the bowl and starting the tap. Max blinked a few times at the back of her head, taking a few seconds to decide how to say what she was thinking.

"It was…different?" She ventured, instantly wishing she'd come up with something better. She expected Anne to get upset, or angry, but instead she burst out laughing, looking over her shoulder with a happy smile. Max actually found herself smiling back. This was the closest to a biscuit-box picture-perfect family dinner, even is she had just insulted her cooking.

Fang slid up beside her and slipped his plate into the soapy water, mumbling a thank you as he walked away. He stood looking into the darkness out of the kitchen window for a few seconds before speaking again. "Going to bed."

"Yeah, me too…" Max stretched her arms above her head, ignoring her shoulder as it clicked.

"Ok, night. Get lots of sleep for you cooking competition tomorrow!" Anne responded gleefully, waving a marigold-gloved hand. Max caked on a grin until she looked away again, then it dropped. This whole 'mummy-dearest' situation seemed too sweet to be real. Her brain was waiting, possibly pleading, for it to end.

Knowing her life, it would be abruptly.


	5. Max is Not Amused

**This is the last part I have written, the rest will be spaced out depending on writers block and busy-ness xP I was gunna write a huge chunk today, but my brain doesn't function too well on 2 and a half hours sleep and...well...yeah, that's what i got last night. .-. So yeah, I'll try write some tomorrows, half way through the next chapter as we speak, but needs finishing and editing.**

**Also, there will be drama in this XD And I'm sorry for people who like Sam and Lissa, because I'm bending them a little to fit in this storyline. There will be faxness after the drama though, and loads of it.

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**SkyAngel: Thanks for the review =3 good to see someone else liked it.**

**Crazy: ^^; heh...this bit should be really edited though, so worth reading again. After this, s'all new =D Yay!**

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**Part 5**

As comfortable as her covers looked, Max couldn't bring herself to shuffle below them. Dressed in a thin, purple camisole with a white trim and matching three quarter length pants, she was curled up on top of the covers constantly turning her pillow over to get the cool side. She stretched out and laid on her back and rubbed her tired face with her hands, feeling her face burning up against her palms.

_This is ridiculous,_ Max thought to herself as she shuffled over to the cold side of the bed, unable to hold in a soft sigh as her body cooled just a little bit. Her mind was already in overdrive over the whole situation , this was just the icing on the insomnia cake. She groaned as the sheets below her began to heat up.

This could take a while.

Dragging her tired butt out of bed she wandered into the en suite and pushed the door to, turning on the light. She cupped her hands under the cold tap and watched them fill with water before splashing it over her face. It felt so _good._ Doing it again, she rubbed some of the water into her neck and sighed in relief. That was helping a little at least. She grabbed the towel from the hand rail and gently patted her face dry, flopping it over the side of the bath before flicking the light back off.

Back in bed, Max still didn't go beneath the sheets, not wanting to tempt fate now she felt cooler. She closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind. Much harder than it sounds with a life like hers. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up just before she felt the bed dip under another's weight. She shifted to look over her shoulder, Fang's outline just showing in the moonlight.

She smiled slightly, not caring if he saw it or not, and rested her head back against the pillow, feeling Fang wrap an arm around her middle as he wriggled closer. It was then she wondered if Anne even considered they might share a bed at some point, considering how close they were. Fang kissed the back of her head before resting his own against the pillow behind her, entwining his fingers with hers as he fitted his body around her.

"I couldn't sleep either," he whispered drowsily, close to her ear. Max smiled slightly, lightly stroking his fingers with her own. His body was cooler than hers, it was refreshing. Wrapped in his embrace, it was like they were still on the run, sleeping when they got the chance, protecting one another.

Just her and Fang. Nothing else. That thought itself helped her drift off to sleep.

*~*~*~*

Anne sat at the dining table, letting her eyes wander between the two plates of food in front of her. She had no idea which one was who's, and they looked relatively the same. Both of them had tried to make scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, fried bread, fried tomato and a mug of coffee with a glass of orange juice.

Both left a bit to be desired.

The one on the left was well put together and organised. The sausages were lined up against the fried bread the scrambled eggs were on top of, the tomato just to the side above the sausages. Problem was all of it was burnt, and as she put a forkful with a little bit of everything on it into her mouth, Anne held back a cringe at the taste of charcoal. Even the coffee tasted burnt, which was…peculiar.

The other one was more of a mess. Everything seemed to be scattered haphazardly on the plate, the toast cut in half and the eggs piled between it, the sausages on top of that. When cutting into it, Anne found the tomato hidden under the scrambled eggs. She also discovered she couldn't eat the sausages, as they were undercooked.

Other than that, the second plate actually tasted like food, and the coffee tasted as it should. Shame it could have given her food poisoning. That was the only read deciding factor in her final ruling, taking the burned but not deadly plate as her winner. Max threw a cloth on the floor and stared angrily out of the window. Fang simply smirked.

"Told you," he stated, stooping down to pick the cloth back up and hanging it over a chair. "May be burned, but it wont kill you." Max shot him a glare, which made him smile even more. Possibly dangerous ground, smirking at an angry Max, but he didn't care.

"Well, Max, your's was very well cooked…except for the sausages…" Anne consoled her. Max stuck her tongue out at Fang, widening his smirk further as Anne continued. "If the sausages were cooked ok, you would have won. Even if Fang's tasted a bit off, it didn't try and kill me…"

"Hah!" Max shouted, spinning to point at Fang as he raised an eyebrow. "I cooked better on the _whole,_ you just lucked out this morning Mister." Fang just shrugged silently, letting a smirk touch as his face when he saw her annoyance at his seemingly uncaring response.

He didn't dare say anything as she turned away, slightly huffy through her happiness, but he found her _incredibly_ cute when she was mad. But he certainly wasn't going to say that to her face when she was in a happy mood, let alone more likely to punch something.

That was because he liked being able to breathe.

*~*~*~*

Fang smacked the alarm clock, silencing it, and let his arm flop against the side of the bed. Behind him, Max fitted herself back around him, wrapping an arm around him and nuzzling into the back of his neck. Neither of them wanted to get up. It was the day they were to start school, so soon after they'd started getting used to sleeping to a normal time they were being roused at 6.30am to get an education.

Fang groaned and lifted Max's arm off his wound, pulling himself into an almost upright position as she curled back up. His side was almost completely better. Anne said the stitches would disappear on their own, dissolving or something, which happily meant no more hospitals. Problem was the area was still a little tender, and Max's arm wasn't helping.

He stretched and stifled a yawn as he slid his feet off the side of the bed and stood up. He was in Max's room again, the curtains closed against the light trying to invade the room. Fang scratched his arm absently and stooped down to pick up his pyjama top. He'd never been one for bed clothes, at most he worse a pair of trousers or boxers to bed. These ones, he couldn't deny, where quite cosy. Silky black material.

He didn't deem the shirt necessary, however, and had discarded it quite happily the night before.

Max mumbled something about breakfast and rolled over, burying herself deeper in the blankets until she looked like a tangled mess rather than a person. Fang smiled softly, watching her for a few more seconds before making it into the bathroom. A nice, hot shower would be a good start to the day.

The soft knock on the door roused Max instantly, who raised her head still half buried in blankets and hair lay strewn across her face. Anne peeked around the door, opening it slowly with her back. She was already dressed in a dark blue suit and a light blue shirt, black ankle books with a very small heel clipping on the floor as she walked over to the bed.

"Morning," she smiled sweetly, taking a seat on the edge of the bed and pulling the blanket off of Max's head. She blinked sleepily and pulled herself more upright, brushing her hair from her eyes. Anne placed the pile of clothes on the bed and tapped it with one hand. "I got your uniform here. Nick's already in the joint bathroom, but the other ones now free. Why not you have a shower before school, hmm?"

"Who'll be making breakfast?" Max asked dozily, picking up the pile of clothes as she slipped her legs off of the bed.

"I will be," Anne answered as she got up from the bed, taking a few steps towards the door. "Waffles you put in the toaster on the setting it says, and a bottle of syrup. Cant go wrong with that right?" She smiled at Max as she pulled herself off the bed and padded across the carpet after her.

_You probably can, _Max thought as she slipped through the doorway in front of Anne as she held the door. You pasted on a fake smile and shook her head, bringing a hand up to cover a yawn. "See you at breakfast…"

*~*~*~*

Fang padded slowly down the stairs and headed to the kitchen, the smell of non-burnt waffles drawing him in. Pushing the door open he slipped through silently, taking a seat at the table that was already laid. Anne had gone to town. Piles of waffles sat in the oven, which was open and on low to keep them warm. A bottle of syrup sat at each set place, of which there were three. At each place was also a tall glass of orange juice. Fang picked it up and sipped from it. Pulp-less too, good choice.

Anne spun round when she heard the glass hit the table again, holding her chest like she was having a heart attack. "Oh…Nick…I didn't hear you come in." He shrugged in response, slipping back a little in his chair as she staked seven waffles onto a plate and handed it to him. He thanked her with a small smile and proceeded to smother them in syrup, using at least half the bottle before he was satisfied and picked up a fork.

"How do you like your uniform?" She asked as she sat a the table with her own two waffles. Fang raised an eyebrow and finished his mouthful, spearing another pile of waffle.

"Could be worse," he replied, sticking the forkful in his mouth and looking down at his clothes. He'd found them in a pile on his bed when he came out the shower, as well as his bed made and curtains open. He liked most of it, in truth. The blazer and the trousers were black, along with the smart, clunky shoes he had to wear. The shirt was white, which he could live with. The only real bane was the tie that was currently shoved in his pocket and the socks. Both were bright red.

What kind of school controls sock colour? Apparently Charles Academy did.

"That's good," Anne smiled, after swallowing her current mouthful. "Hopefully Max will like hers too."

*~*~*~*

Max stepped out of the shower and sighed happily. She must have had five showers in the last three days, but she didn't care. It felt so much better than bathing in a river, or not bathing at _all_. Rubbing the condensation off the mirror Max studied her face critically. She wasn't looking as dead as she had been, her pale skin a slightly more normal colour than ghostly white. All the cuts and bruises had faded from her face, just a scar on her cheek remained.

Totally normal. Awesome.

After drying herself off and giving her hair a good blow dry, Max returned to the bathroom to find the uniform she left in there. She hated the idea of the uniform anyway, let alone anything else. The initial colours didn't look too bad. The cardigan was a dark blue, the blazer black. It was what was underneath those two that made her scream.

In the kitchen, Anne looked towards the bathroom at the shouts, then at Fang, who was still silently eating his waffles. She opened her mouth to speak but he got there first.

"There's a skirt, isn't there?"

"…yes?" Anne replied, unsure why that would be an issue. Fang let a small smirk travel across his face as he stood.

"I'll get her," He said simply, shoving one final mouthful of waffles into his mouth before heading out of the doorway and jogging up the stairs.

*~*~*~*

"Max?" Fang knocked softly on the bathroom door for the third time. He'd already tried the doorknob after calling twice, finding it locked. So far he hadn't got any kind of response from inside and, though he knew it wasn't likely anything was wrong, it still worried him a little.

"I'm not here," she replied unconvincingly. Fang raised an eyebrow, the gesture completely wasted on the bathroom door.

"Yes you are. You gotta get some breakfast before school." He answered in a tone mirroring Max's own motherly one, his hand still on the doorknob despite it being locked.

"I don't _want _to go to school," Max shouted through the door, glaring at her reflection in the full length mirror. She hated this uniform with a passion, possibly more than she'd ever hated anything in her life. She turned to look at the back, pulling a face and spinning back around to the front.

She looked _ridiculous._

"Come on, Max, it cant be that bad." Fang's soft voice floated through the door, and Max sighed. Maybe she was over reacting. It was only a school uniform, everyone would have to wear it anyway. Bu it was just so…not her. Though now she was more worried about what Fang would think than anything else.

"Promise you wont laugh," she replied, no longer shouting. She rubbed her eyes sleepily, trying to get the sleep out of the corners. She'd barely slept a wink last night thanks to her hot flushes, and she could feel it in her head. For a start, she had a headache. That and she felt kind of dazed.

"Promise," he said softly. Max inhaled deeply, took one more disgusted look at herself in the mirror, and bit the bullet.

Fang removed his hand from the handle as he heard the lock click open, taking a few steps backwards. Very slowly, the door opened until he could see the whole of her. It certainly wasn't anything like he'd expected, even after he was told there was a skirt involved.

She was wearing a fitted white blouse that was buttoned all the way up to her neck. On top of that was a cardigan that buttoned up to and split apart just under her chest, dark blue in colour, most of which was covered with an open black blazer like Fang's. The blouse was tucked into a skirt to look tidy. The skirt itself was just above knee length and pleated, a tartan like pattern in a mix of black, dark blue and white squares. Red socks came to just below her knees, and black dolly shoes with a thin strap across the middle of her foot donned her feet. Finally, a small, red ribbon tie was fixed loosely around her neck, tucked under her collar and but hanging over the cardigan.

She blushed very slightly as he took it all in, clasping her hands behind her back as she waited for him to make some kind of comment. His face was set like stone as he surveyed her uniform, from the feet and up. Her hair was tied back in a high pony tail, as also specified by the dress code.

He decided she looked better with her hair down.

"You look-" he was cut off by Anne bounding up the stairs, a briefcase in one hand, the car keys and a Styrofoam box in another, looking flustered.

"I just got a call asking me to be in early, something's going horribly wrong." She handed the Styrofoam box to Max, who blinked at her. "There's some waffles for you sweetie, and there's some money in your bags by the door. I packed them for you, so you just have to grab them on the way out, but we need to leave _now_. Oh, Max, you look adorable. That uniform really suits you. Now come on, lets move."

As Anne stepped back down the stairs, Max looked round at Fang. He was biting his lip, a smirk across his face. "Don't. Say. Anything." Max warned, glaring at him as his shoulders shuddered from bitten back laughter. All he did was point, his voice breaking as he forced out one word.

"Ad-ho-orable." At that he burst out laughing, holding his stomach and groaning occasionally as the laughter jogged his wound. If he wasn't already injured she would have punched him in the ribs by now, instead she glared and folded her arms across her chest, but he didn't respond to it, just kept laughing for a few more seconds before straightening up, a grin still on his face.

"Done?" she asked, an eyebrow raised. He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye as he nodded, a grin seemingly now permanently on his lips.

"Good. Then you can help me sneak my boots to school. These shoes are killing me."

*~*~*~*

"Here we are." Anne pulled up into the drop off line and looked around, smiling at the two kids in the back of her car. Max was on the curb side of the car, but didn't open the door. She stared at the building in front of her as children in identical uniforms flooded in. Her stomach was doing back flips, and she wasn't sure if it was the waffles or her nerves.

The drive had been very short, about five minutes by car. Max wasn't entirely sure why she'd even bothered to drive them there if it was that close, but she was too on edge to try and think it through any further. Fang gave her a gentle nudge, drawing her attention away from the window and back to reality.

"Ready?" He asked. He had a piece of string around his neck, tucked under his tie. It was a door key for the house, as Anne wasn't going to be home when school kicked out. She stared at him blankly for a few seconds before nodding, taking her seatbelt off and pushing the door open.

"Bye!" Anne waved out of the window just after Fang got out before driving off. Max rolled her eyes before looking back at the school.

"Wow. That's big."

"No kidding, F-Nick." Max quickly corrected herself. He looked at her with a small smirk on his face.

"Tell me why I'm Nick again?" He asked as he took her hand, leading her through the main gates of the school. Max groaned and he chuckled, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "Kidding, just remember not to use the other name."

"Right," Max replied, swinging her arm a little. "If we even end up in the same classes. They might try and split us up or something."

"Then we'll try stick together," Fang replied, letting go of her hand to get the door for her. She pulled a face and slipped through the gap, Fang right behind her as they approached the reception.

"At least meet at lunch?" She queried, giving him a smile as he nodded, the swallowed hard before pressing the bell by the reception window for attention.

This was going to be a _long_ day.


	6. Maxine and Nick Walker

**Dudes, been a while since I updated this. Sorries .-. been a busy bee getting visas and insurance and trying to find a summer job. So, coupled with writer's block, i really missed quite a few updates there...but here's one =D and its totally brand spanking new! =D Yaaaaaay! And, its a long one. Enjoy ^^  
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**Crazy: =D Thank you for continually reviewing ^^ even when i mess up! ^^ and for the forgiving!! ^^ Dont mind me, coffee overdose! But yeah, thanks for all the reviews, you're awesome. And new one, as promised, enjoy.

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**Part 6**

This school apparently put you in classes according to your capabilities. That meant every new student, whether they were starting at the right time of year or transferring at some point, had to take entrance tests. Fang was willing to bet if you scored too low they didn't let you in, but he didn't say anything. He assumed Anne had probably fixed that anyway, being FBI and all.

They were ushered into a huge conference room by the secretary once she actually answered the bell, looking a little peeved by the time she got there. Probably because Max pressed the bell ten times in under half a minute. Now they were sat on opposite ends of a conference table the size of two pool tables pushed together, waiting to be given test papers.

"Nick and Maxine Walker?"

Fang looked up to see a skinnier, younger looking woman standing in the doorway, a stack of papers in her hands. Taking a second to study her he noted though she was pretty, she wasn't eraser-style super model gorgeous. He glanced over at Max, her elbows rested on the table and her hands supporting her chin in boredom. He knew she'd already have completed a similar assessment, and his ideas were confirmed when she nodded her head, slumping back in her chair with her arms splayed on the table as she turned her attention back to the woman in the doorway.

Fang looked back at the thin woman and nodded once, sitting back in his chair himself as she approached him an dropped half of the stack of papers next to him. She then pulled the first one off the top of the pile and placed it, upside down, in front of him. He reached to turn it over, but she tapped the back of his hand with a pencil before placing it next to him.

"Not yet," her voice was scratchy compared to her looks, it didn't really suit her. Fang nodded an 'OK' and a 'thank you' in one, curt nod She glided to the other side of the side of the table and put the rest of the pile next to Max, handing her a pencil and putting her paper up the wrong way too. Max peeked under a corner as she went back towards the doorway, turning around just too late to see her drop the paper and return to her bored look.

"You have half an hour for this paper, then we'll move onto the next one. If you wish to use the bathroom, you raise your hand and someone will escort you there and back. You can have a break once every test is completed, and there are nine, all of which will last a full thirty minutes. Any questions?" She had her hands clasped in front of her, her face set seriously.

She looked like an angry librarian. It wasn't a good look for her.

"I do," Max said, leaning forwards and resting her chin in her hands again. The woman raised an eyebrow.

"You raise you hand to ask questions her, Miss. Walker." the librarian corrected her. Max rolled her eyes and raised her free hand half-heartedly. "Yes, Maxine?"

"Ok, two questions." She flopped her arm back on the table and sat up a little straighter. "One, if I have to go to the bathroom, the guy who takes me is going to stay outside, right? Because that's _tres_ gross otherwise." Librarian's eyes shot upwards. Her Fang-tuned facial expression distinguisher meant she was either shocked or horrified by the idea.

"Ok, forget that one. Second. How do I get my name changed on the register? Its Max, not Maxine."

"Your pare- …guardian, would have to approve the name change, and it would take at least a term for the changes to come into effect, when the new registers come out." Max frowned. Likelihood of Anne letting her change her name to Max Ride, currently not tested but probably very small.

"If there's no more questions, Miss Walker, you may both begin."

Max caught Fang's gaze as he lifted the corner of his paper, smirking at her when she mouthed 'Walker?' as she flipped her own page over. He shrugged a response, flipping over his own and picking up the pencil. He couldn't help the silent chuckle when he heard Max groan.

It was a Maths paper. Her favourite subject.

*~*~*~*

"Walker?" Fang voiced the silent question hanging in the air. They'd just sat five hours worth of consecutive tests on every subject you could possibly guess they might teach in a school as compulsory, plus a language and a general IQ test added to the pile at the last second. To be completely fair, his brain was fried, and so was Max's.

"Guess Anne decided we needed a surname," Max commented as she took every point in the stretch of the abandoned corridor that could be an emergency exit. This place may seem safe enough, but she wasn't leaving anything to chance. Last time they did, Angel was taken. She had no desre to repeat something like that, especially as there was only Fang left to lose.

Their testing had finished forty five minutes before the end of timetabled classes, giving them free roaming time to internalise the layout of the place in case of necessity. They were supposed to be spending the quiet time going to the cafeteria for some food before heading over to the PE department for an afternoon of physical ability assessment.

Neither of them had any doubts how they would be gauged there. Somewhere between 'awesome' and 'superhuman' sounded about right.

"Maybe she didn't think we had a surname," Fang thought aloud as he took in the corridor as well. Max looked sideways at him, an eyebrow raised.

"She had out files in front of her," she pointed out. Files. The idea of people knowing everything about them made her shudder. Its what the school had been like.

"Did they _say_ your surname in the half an hour of hell?" Max smiled. She'd described the interview with the FBI guys and finally Anne a day or so ago. It really had been one of the most uncomfortable situations of her life, minus being kept in a cage, of course.

"Well, no." She admitted, looking away from his know-it-all smirk. "Maybe we should make the point, get our surnames changed."

"Ride isn't my surname," Fang stated, stopping with Max just outside the cafeteria double doors. "I don't really have one, after all. I could keep Walker."

"Would you _want_ to keep Walker?" Max asked, slightly bewildered he'd want to. He shook his head, opening the door and motioning with his head for her to step through. "All I have for now, though."

Max wanted to tell him he could share her name. Nick Ride. It had a certain ring to it. Then she realised his name was _Fang_, and Nick was an invention to stay undercover in the 'real world'. Suddenly she wished they were on the run again, but with beds and showers and no Anne friggin' Walker.

The E shaped house would be prefect right about now.

Fang grabbed a tray from the back of the hall, glancing up at the huge, white clock looming over them. Ten minutes had passed since they were directed to the cafeteria, ten minutes spend wisely cataloguing exits and possible weapons should the time call. He shrugged, waiting for Max to grab a tray before leading the way to the counter.

Thirty minutes to eat. Plenty of time.

The lunch ladies already had a substantial spread, despite it being twenty minutes before lunch was supposed to be served. Max riffled about in her back and pulled out a small, green purse she found in the front. Flicking it open, her eyes lit up. There was loads of money in there, at least enough or a whole weeks worth of normal kid's lunches. Fang found the same in a dark green wallet, and smirked slightly.

"If we aren't supposed to use all this today, she should have said so, right?" Fang queried quietly as the dinner lady welcomed them with a smile. Max nodded happily before smiling at the dinner lady, purse in hand.

"I'll have a bit of everything," she said, to which the dinner lady blinked in surprise.

"Are you sure?" she queried, picking up a spoon for the beans. "It'll cost about $40."

"No problem," Max smiled earnestly, holding up her tray for the plate she was currently dishing up. "He'll have the same. Lots of tests made us _really_ hungry." The lady looked at Fang, who simply smiled his half smile and nodded his head once.

Slightly bemused, the lady set about dishing them up their dinners.

True to form, they both bee-lined to the table at the back of the large cafeteria. It was right next to a window as well as the doors to get out. Perfect for insecure and nervous teens.

"That's the point. She's literally changed my _whole_ name," Max stated annoyed before shoving a handful of fries in her mouth.

"Not like I had any choice in mine either, _Maxine_." Fang smirked and waved his slice of pizza at her as he spoke, biting a large lump off before dumping the rest back on the plate. Max looked up at the ceiling in thought. He didn't have a point there, her original name was actually in her fake one, whereas he'd giving Fang his alias, and Anne had added to it.

Fang pulled a face as he swallowed his mouthful. "I think I preferred hospital food."

"You'd think a posh school like this would have nice food, wouldn't you?" Max commented, looking at a fry critically. "Maybe these were cut out of cardboard boxes…"

"This food, or Anne's food?" Fang asked after swallowing yet another mouthful, his pizza reduced to just a crust. Max sat back as she chewed, staring at the ceiling thoughtfully.

"Tough one," she finally answered, finishing her fries in another mouthful and tacking the burger. Fang was already halfway through his fries and had no pizza left, taking a long drink from a can of soda. Max finished just after him, downing her soda as she looked up at the time. "Five minutes to find the field…any ideas?"

"Haven't a clue." Well, that was useful.

"Then we better get searching, unless you have an overwhelming desire to be in here when the rest of the school kicks out for lunch." Max smirked as Fang pushed his seat from the table, grabbed his bag and promptly started towards the door. She was right behind him, having no real need to be squished like a penguin either.

*~*~*~*

"Don't think there's much doubt what class we're in for PE, do you?" Fang queried as they walked home from school. He was still in his new PE kit, his uniform stuffed into the kit bag the head of PE had given them. It was a white shirt and black joggers, nothing wrong with it to him.

Max had complained about hers, considering it was a skirt on top of shorts she wasn't ecstatic. Eventually the teacher had let her just wear the shorts this one time. Probably to shut her up and get on with the lesson. She had the blazer tossed over her shoulder, carrying the schoolbag and PE bag one in each hand.

"His face when you leapt that vault was pretty good though," Max laughed. The PE session had ended early due to the fact they were just being tested rather than in a class. Since they completed every exercise he set for them with ease, there was no point keeping them in for more trials.

"Yeah," Fang agreed, grinning slightly to himself. "So. Whole afternoon off. Go for a fly?"

*~*~*~*

Fang was leaning against the wall outside the girl's rest room, holding up his and Max's timetables to compare. It was their second day, and Max had convinced him to hide one of her combat boots in his bag so Anne wouldn't notice the extra bulge in her own. Now she'd dived into the bathroom to make a quick switch over. Apparently the dolly shoes hurt her toes. More like her pride.

The timetable was basically a sheet of paper with squares printed all over it. Someone had scrawled lesson names, teacher names and room numbers in, then their names on the top. Not very professional for a school you had to pay fortune to get into, but Fang really didn't care that much.

The details, he was interested in.

They were together in virtually every class, all except two. Maths, because Max had a worse grasp of numbers than Fang did, and computers. He always liked computers, used to tinker with the one back in the E shaped house until he accidentally fried the hard drive. Juice and machinery don't work well together, FYI.

Max has maths first, he had computer technology. Good start.

As she came out of the restroom, Max pulled her bag back onto her shoulders. Her trusty old combat boots were way comfier than those stupid shoes she'd worn the whole day before. Fang turned his head to look at her, and smirked.

"Sure no one will notice?" he asked, holding her timetable out to her. She took it, scanning over the classes she had today.

"I doubt anyone really looks," she mumbled, following the days down until she got to 'Tuesday'. "Aww man, Maths first? That's no fair…"

"I have computer tech." Fang stated as he folded his timetable. "Room 312, apparently. See you second period."

*~*~*~*

"Ah, Maxine!" Max almost turned around and left again when the teacher shouted that joyously, dropping her pen on the table as she headed over to the door. It took all her restraint and concentration to stay put in the doorway and plaster on a smile.

"Class, this is Maxine Walker, the transfer student from…well, why don't you tell us, Maxine?"

Max looked about the class in front of her. A few of the kids at the front actually looked interested, but there were the only kids who actually looked ready for a class. Books were out, pens and pencils lined up neatly and ready to scrawl down the notes off the board.

It didn't take an observational genius to notice the divide in the class between these kids and the rest of them. From the second row back, most of them where whispering whilst trying to look at Max discretely. A few of the girls fell back into their chairs in muffled giggles, the boys smirking their faces off at whatever they just said.

Max swallowed. Her senses were on high alert, taking in every movement each child made, judging what their strengths and weaknesses would be if she had to make a run for it. The windows were single pained, nice and easy to break open with a shoulder charge.

"California," she finally replied, hating the familiar feeling of being an exhibit rather than a person. Her muscles twitched with adrenaline under her skin. "My parents are missionaries in India, so I got adopted by a family friend. I live here with her now."

"Isn't that something? Missionaries. Spreading the good word an' all, right?" The teacher was smiling so broadly at her, Max was sure her mouth would fall off in a second. She simply nodded, letting her eyes stray over the school kids once more.

"I'm Mrs. Shaya," she smiled, motioning to the isle down the middle of the two sets of desks with an outstretched arm. "There's a seat right at the back there, between Samuel and Maisy, I'm sure they'll help you settle in." Max repressed the sarcastic response in her throat, smiled sweetly and headed own there, focusing her attention on the back of the room while twenty pairs of eyes followed her back.

Talk about being an exhibit.

*~*~*~*

Slumped in his chair, his eyes fixed on the screen as he browsed the wonder of the internet, Fang sighed. The computer lesson was way too easy. All he had to do was input a table of data and make a graph. He'd completed that, along with the 'extension' work, in a matter of twenty minutes, and now had an hour and forty minutes to waste while the teacher put all of their attention into sleeping.

He was very glad she didn't seem to care, because it meant when he walked in she just told him to grab the worksheets and take a seat. As long as he handed something in at the end of the lesson, she was happy to let them run free.

Worked for him.

Looking around, everyone in the room seemed to be following his lead. They were on gaming sites or chat rooms, wasting the lesson having a laugh. Fang himself didn't know any of these sites, and had looked at a few the boy on his right had been on, but none of them really drew him in. He's never had the childhood to get into games. He was a natural at them, as well as computers, but he didn't care for much for them.

He opened a new tab in the browser and instantly a Google search bar popped up, itching to be used. Leaning forwards slightly, he typed in what he wanted to check up on.

_**BIRDKIDS OF NEW YORK?**_

Scrolling through a couple of pages of news reports and fuzzy, obviously botched photos, Fang finally found what he was looking for. The blog site he and Max had replied to when in the library, was the first link on the third page. He clicked it, and was instantly met with a _**SITE BLOCKED**_ screen.

_Bugger_. That wasn't what he'd hoped to find. He flopped back slightly in his chair, sighing. Anne didn't seem to have a computer, he'd had a quick scour around the house when they'd gotten home early the day before. That meant this was the only place he could actually check the blog, and he couldn't deny he was interested to know if more people had relied to Max's post.

"Here," a pale, slender arm reached across and pulled his keyboard to the left. His first instinct was to freeze, since he had no where really that useful to run in the confined classroom. When he noticed the lack of needles or random eraser claws prodding his flesh, he relaxed very slightly. An eyebrow raised, Fang turned only his eyes to the left.

The owner of the arm was a girl, quite a pretty girl to be exact. She had thin, black glasses balanced on her nose and a band of freckles across the bridge, her bright blue eyes flipping up from the keyboard to the screen as she typed. Her long, red hair that was originally tucked behind her ears flopping forwards slightly as she did so. She typed a few more things, then clicked enter, smiling at Fang as she slid his keyboard back where it should be. His eyes flicked back to the screen and his other eyebrow shot up to join the first.

The site was now accessible.

"Thanks," he stated, his eyes turning back to look at her again. She smiled broadly, pushing the glasses back up her nose.

"No problem," she replied, still smiling at him as he began exploring the site, trying to find the page he wanted. It was ten minutes later, when she was _still _smiling, that he turned in his chair to look at her.

"Could you show me how to do that?" he asked. She studied him a second, trying to see what he was thinking, but his face remained set like stone. Finally, she nodded, turning his keyboard round again.

"Of course," she beamed at him, scooting her chair closer to his. Fang resisted the urge to scoot his further away. She was leaning across him to reach the mouse, her side pressing against him. It was uncomfortably close contact for someone other than Max. "I'm Lissa, by the way. Who're you?" She asked as she slid back into her seat and resumed typing, blocking the site once more so she could give him a demonstration. He didn't reply until she looked back at him expectantly.

"Nick," he replied cooly, his facial expression hiding the uncomfortable feeling that was trying to surface. Social interactions were not his forte, especially with 'normal' people. She began talking to him, explaining each step of the process as she did it. Even after that she kept leaning over and asking him random questions, or trying to make conversation.

It was the longest hour and twenty seven minutes of his life.


	7. Samuel, AKA The Dreaded Sam

**Ok, first, this is Chapter 7.1 because I got this far, and a little further, then hit writers block the size of a skyscraper.** **So, I figured, while i caffeinate myself over that little blip in the works tomorrow, I would post this bit now, give you something to read and prove I really am not dead =3 S'ok? Good...I think...**

**Wow, not even 1000 words with the A/N...I'm ashamed of myself...**

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**Crazy: Hehe, it gets worse for the two of them yet, but not in this chapter =P**

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**Part 7.1**

"So…" Max sighed almost unnoticeably quietly as she pulled a blank workbook and a pen from her bag, followed by the Maths book Anne had bought for her. Posh schools, why they couldn't afford to buy in text books she didn't really get. Probably didn't want to waste their awesome amounts of tutor money on small stuff.

Like cafeteria food. That was a no go for the budget as well, seemingly.

Ignoring the male voice coming from her left, Max flipped open her notepad and started searching the text book for the page written on the board. She'd been sat down for a total of sixty seconds, if _that,_ and she was already debating breaking through the window and flying home on principle. She could think of infinitely less boring and more constructive uses of her bird kid time.

"It's Maxine, right?" Man that boy was persistent. Flopping the book open on the right page, Max scrawled the date, also written on the board, before looking to her left. It was the boy the teacher had dubbed 'Samuel'. The girl on her right was being insanely quiet. She didn't even hear the girl get her books out. But that totally worked for Max, lack of social interaction was good.

He was looking at her intently, taking in her appearance more closely as she studied him herself. He had light brown hair, styled similar to Fang's had been after their makeover, but just a little too short. His eyes were a stunning blue, piercing, but in an entirely different way to Fang's stare. He was reasonably build, but lighter than Fang, probably because he hadn't been on the run most of his life…

Max kicked herself. _Stop comparing him to Fang!_

"Just Max," she replied, seeing a small, half smile spread across his lips. It was no where near a- Max mentally kicked herself again. It as a cute half smile, nothing more, nothing less. She quickly turned away and refocused on the maths sheets in front of her.

Algebra. This was, even though her understanding of Maths was challenged at the best of times, one of the biggest wastes of time ever devised by a fellow human being. Minus the wings, obviously. It was taking an equation with numbers in it, adding letters to them and making the original numbers smaller, then trying to get some poor sap to find out what the letters mean.

Just give them the friggen numbers!

"That's good. Maxine doesn't suit you," she let her eyes wander sideways again. He _did_ look cute with a smile on his face, white teeth glistening between slightly parted lips. She couldn't help but smile back, tilting back in her chair and turning to look at him fully.

"What makes you say that?" She questioned, teaming it with a Fang-copyrighted eyebrow raise when Samuel chuckled.

"Just can't envisage a Maxine wearing those," that boyish grin seemed to be permanently on his face as he replied, pointing to the combat boots on her feet. Max folded one leg over the other, slumping slightly in her chair as she inspected them. They were kind of damaged, she had to admit. Phyllis hadn't gotten her a new pair of combat boots amongst the other teenage crap.

"Give you that," she commented after a few more seconds, picking at the rubber on the side of the boot on her lap. "You don't strike me as a Samuel either." It was her turn to grin at him, though his seemed to be drawn on right now, unwavering even as confusion crossed his face.

Maybe it was mock confusion? That would about cover the smirk.

"Samuel is too smart a name for a guy who wears his hair like that," Max pointed out before he could voice the question, motioning to his hair unnecessarily. "Strikes me more a short name hair style, like…Sam?"

"Spot on,"

"Ok, _that_ sounded more like a Samuel…" He laughed, and Max's smile got wider. It was a great laugh until the teacher shushed them and set them on track with work. Even then the two shared jokes and failed at maths together, enjoying the remaining hour and twenty seven minutes as they sped past.

_I Just made my first 'real world' friend,_ Max thought absently as Sam started joining the letters from algebra equations into a cartoon character. _Wonder how Fang is doing…_


	8. Fang's Blog and Interruptions

**Remember i said i was a little ahead on the next part? Remember i also said i re read these things in an OCD like fashion before posting them? I wrote this next scene, then decided an hour ago I hated it and rewrote it. In a completely different way. In a completely different place.** **Apparently my mother had bunnies in her head that make her do crazy things like that. Maybe I got some from her. Anywho, this ones short but not as short as the last xP **

**Also, turning Lissa into a psycho-thing is not in my agenda, as with Sam, the while idea being she's egocentric and kinda up her own butt to realise people's lives dont revolve around her. I apologise for the poeple who like lissa *probably speaking to a number she can count on one hand*, but it needs to be done to follow my storyline. That and my friend seems to think its neccessary... *mumbles***

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**Crazy: Its essential, trust me. I dont want max to fall apart later =P**

**Lack of reviews makes me sad, because i have no one to talk to in my A/N =( sadness means less updates and of shorter length *points below* please review if you read, it makes a kitten happy. Many thanks to crazy for reviewing every chapter thus far =D

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Fang glanced up at the clock. Twenty five minutes until the bell rang for second period. He was still trying to catch up with all the posts on the site. It had literally doubled in size since he was last here, with new sub forums and tonnes new members all trying to find information on the 'Bird Kids of New York'. There had been loads of sightings all over America, they even had a map with tiny pinpricks in documenting where they had all come from, asking people to try and find a pattern.

It was on the border of being insane.

It was a couple of minutes later he found a small, un-replied to topic glued to the top of the page on one of the sub forums. It was still glowing bright blue, because he hadn't clicked the link yet, but the single thread alone had thousands of hits. He mouthed the title as he read it again.

**CALLING FANG. OTHERS DO NOT POST HERE  
**

He clicked it, and waited for the painfully slow computer system to load the next page. For a private school, to him, it kinda sucked. Made him wonder what regular schools were like. Was the food there even edible?

Finally, the screen reloaded to a message from the user _Flockfinder101. _He was an administrator, according to the banner above his name, but no other details about him were given like the others, who had general details listed below their profile picture. He didn't even have a profile picture. Fang tore his eyes away from the lack of info to read the bulk of the message.

_User ID: Flockfinder101_

_Posted: Four days ago_

_Fang/ Max, whoever reads this first, I'm assuming Fang because Max sounded like she didn't want to be here. Dude! I cant believe you found __**and**__ posted on our humble little site! Its already grown so much thanks to you guys! We hope you're not a hoax pair, we've already had a set of those when the first shots came out._

_Photoshop. Yech. Some people should never have it._

_But dude, we'd all love to keep track of you, see what you're up to and everything, it must be awesome to be able to fly and stuff! Are you on the run or something? Because that would explain why you keep being spotted in random places._

_Also, there was a rumour you turned up in hospital! Near DC! And that one of you was dying! OMG is that why you stopped posting here? Did one of you die?_

_Please, the link below is a site where you can post entries, like a diary. They don't ask you to disclose anything you don't want to, we certainly cant force you to! LOL! But we want to know you're doing alright after the hospital rumour, we're worried sick here!_

_~ Flockfinder101_

_What the heck's Photoshop..? _Fang thought as he read the entry again, making sure he hadn't skimmed over a finer detail, like proof this guy is an eraser waiting to track them and pounce. There weren't any obvious clues to see though. He checked the web link below. Looked normal enough. Curiously, he clicked it.

In a new tab, a bright yellow and green page popped up followed by a spew of information about the site and what it did. Fang lent forwards slightly as he studied it, reading every fine detail. No IP addresses were kept on file, no personal data was taken, people could post whatever they wanted and received no backlash unless people complained about it.

He had no idea what an IP was, but the rest was right up his alley.

"Cool, you going to start a blog? Can I read it?" Lissa was once again invading his personal space, innocently enough to read what he was doing. Fang fought the urge to shuffle away as she leant even closer to pull the screen round, viewing it properly. "Never heard of this site…"

"Might do, haven't decided yet." Fang answered honestly, his eyes staring a hole in her cheek. Despite being able to view the screen with ease from her seat with the new monitor angle, she remained in the half-across-his-lap position. If she weren't a feeble, breakable girl he'd have thumped her in the ribs by now. "Can't type to register if you stay there though."

"Oh, sorry!" Lissa's cheeks went a slight shade of pink as she pulled away, smiling broadly at him as the blush quickly faded. He got the feeling she wasn't really that embarrassed by it and turned his attention back to the screen, typing in his details on the registration form.

"Fang…" He froze in his seat. No one besides Max had called him by that name in a long time now, it took him off guard. He let his eyes slip sideways as he continued to type in another field, and soon relaxed again. She was looking at the screen, reading what he was typing. Meaning she'd seen his details on the screen. "Strange username…"

"Yeah, you're right." He quickly clicked in the box and backspaced it out. "I'll think of something at the end…" This was getting annoying. He'd have to convince Anne to get computers an internet at home, so he could have a little privacy while he checked or updated this thing. Lissa was just too nosey.

"I liked it though…"

"I didn't," he kept his eyes on the screen, avoiding her gaze. She was a nice girl, but far to clingy for his liking. Better to start trying to set up boundaries now than have to shove her away later.

Silence followed as Lissa turned back to her computer, put out by his abject ignorance of her presence. She'd helped him out and stuff, surely he couldn't ignore her after she'd helped him get all of that stuff unblocked and everything? Didn't he like her? Maybe he was gay?

It didn't cross her Barbie-like mind he just may already have a girlfriend. This seemingly ignored complication was about to make an incredible change in Max and Fang's relationship. One that could sever the relationship they'd built so strongly over the last few days.

She didn't know it, and never would, but Lissa's future actions could condemn the world to an early demise._  
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	9. Calm before the Storm

**Whoooo, a proper sized update! At last! And i even did my first shift at work today -w- not going to enjoy the 7am start ones next week, but cant win them all. Now, this one is kind of a 'fill the gap with slightly useful stuff' one. The wise voice should be listened to here, just a hint.**

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**Strawberry shortcake: Thank you for reviewing, good to see you still read =3**

**Crazy: Dramatic is fun, it makes peoples eyebrows go up in a Fang like style ^^**

**luh-ver4ever: allo thar =3 thanks for reviewing, good to see you like it ^^ no worries, i have no plan to abandon this one.**

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Thank you for the reviews =D it was either the generally good day or the reviews that got a full length chapter out of me. Might have been both. I blame the dog -w- anyway, enjoy this chappy. It has a very apt title, btw. Yay

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**Part 9**

Max chewed the end of her pencil, glaring at the blank page in front of her. It was blank because she was supposed to be writing a letter. It didn't have to be handed in, and it didn't need to be about anything specific. Just a letter. To someone you know.

Man writing down feelings was hard.

Next to her Fang seemed to be happily scrawling away. He even had to sharpen his damn pencil. She took a look up at the clock. Twenty minutes until lunch time, then PE afternoon, then they was home free. Max had found herself kind of jumpy for the last three lessons. Mainly because Fang has said he had something to tell her, but wouldn't actually say til lunch. She wasn't sure if it was because he didn't want other people to overhear, or he was just being Fang, either way she wanted to know what it was. _Badly._

"What're you writing about?" She asked, turning her head to look at him. His left arm was wrapped around his paper, obscuring it from view, the right stopping mid word as he looked up at her.

"Stuff." The face looked down and the hand started writing again. Max sighed and returned to staring at her paper, more hopelessly than angrily this time. Letting out a groan in frustration and closing her eyes, she slowly tilted her head until her forehead was rested on the paper. Maybe an idea would transfer itself in word format from her brain if she stayed there long enough.

"Having trouble?" She turned her head so her cheek was on the paper, looking over at Fang once again. He was straightening the pile of papers he'd written on, probably three or four A5 pages, as he glanced at her, a small smirk on his face. Max rolled her eyes dramatically before turning her head back to try and transfer words from her forehead again. He chuckled.

"Alright class. Ten minutes until you get to go and stuff your faces. That means ten minutes silent reading, starting now." Max flopped back in her seat, eyeing the chubby, booming teacher for the hundredth time that day. He certainly couldn't be an eraser. If he was, their newest batch must have been really bad, all tubby and bald with hair growing in random and slightly scary places all over his face.

She was sure she could see one on his eyeball.

"New kids," she blinked her attention back on him rather than his odd hair problem. Fang's head shot up from putting his letter in his bag, his piercing stare meeting the teachers own, but he didn't seem to notice. "Since you _have_ no books for quiet reading yet, you may leave. I'll find you a suitable selection to choose from for next period. Now go, stuff yourself with our edible crap."

"He got the description right," Fang whispered as he stopped down to grab his bag. Max grinned, grabbing her own already packed bag and the blank piece of paper on the table to shove into a pocket. She'd worry about the letter another time, food was a necessity.

*~*~*~*

Max picked at the pasta dish in front of her. Anne had been slightly miffed they'd spent the whole week's lunch money in one sitting, so was now only giving them enough for two meals at school. It filled a growling hole for a little while, but Max knew by the time she got home she'd probably have to raid the fridge. Not that that was the reason for playing with her food, more that Fang hadn't said a word for ten minutes about the thing that sounded important.

Like, since they went for lunch.

"So what was the thing you wanted to tell me about?" Max was forced to speak just above a comfortable whisper, the other classes had come out not too long ago and the cafeteria had aquired a background hum. He looked up from his lasagne, chewing slowly like he was thinking how to word it. He swallowed, opening his mouth to speak.

"Hey Nick!" Max visibly cringed at the girly shrillness in the voice, then at the fact she'd interrupted Fang telling her something, _then_ at the fact the owner of the voice was making a bee-line for her table. Max looked from the advancing redhead to Fang, raising an eyebrow. He'd stuffed another forkful of lasagne in his mouth and was taking great care in examining the remains of his second dinner, shrugging almost unnoticeably when he felt Max's gaze on him.

The girl pushed herself onto Fang's side of the bench, in the tiny gap he'd left between him and sitting on the floor. He grabbed his tray and scooted over, leaving a nice large gap between him and Lissa. Max chewed slowly as she watched him move, not meeting Lissa's gaze as he shoved another mouthful in, then turned her attention to the grinning redhead.

Whoever she was, Max didn't like her already.

"Hi!" Her voice was still high and girly. Still attached to her stupid smile. Max looked her up and down a second before swallowing, not bothering to place a fake smile on her face as she pointed a pasta laden fork in her general direction.

"And you are..?"

"I'm Lissa, I'm Nick's IT partner. We, like, sit next to each other and talk and stuff." Her grin was worse than Sam's, not wavering even as she took a bite out of the apple on her tray. Max took a glance at Fang, but he was hiding behind the bangs conveniently styled to cover his eyes when he leant forwards. Instead of his eyes, she looked at his body language. He was hunched over defensively, his shoulders tensed up. His fork was probably being bend to smithereens in his grasp.

Simply: He wasn't in his happy place.

"What about you, you're his sister right? Why is he sitting with his sister at lunch? Hasn't he made any friends yet? Do you not _let_ him make any friends? I'm his friend." Max was glad Lissa had an apple to eat, even if her tray was otherwise empty. It stopped the annoying Nudge rant before she punched her in the nose, which was definitely a good thing, not getting dragged away in a police car wise.

"I'm sure he's very glad you're his…friend," Max commented, unsure whether to laugh at the girl's outburst or try and strangle her for saying some of it. If she thought Fang was a pushover just because he was quiet, boy she didn't know him that well.

Max shoved the last piece of pasta in her mouth as Fang finished his plate. They both stood in unison, Fang quickly sliding out of the chair to take his tray to the front, where the dirty stuff went. Max saw him swiftly grab his bag and swing it over one shoulder before picking up his tray. He wasn't planning on coming back again.

"We need to get ready for PE," Max explain-lied as she slid out of her own seat, knowing full well they had at least have of lunchtime left to kill. "Guess he'll see you tomorrow, uh…Linda?"

"Lissa."

"Right…bye." Max didn't smile as she gave the girl one last look over before turning her back on her, following Fang to the dishwasher trolley, where he was waiting for her. She slipped her tray into a gap and they were off down another corridor, walking as quickly as their bird kid legs would let them. They were in silence as they made their way out of the school and across the fields, towards the PE changing rooms.

"Nice friend," Max finally commented, unable to stop a smirk spreading across her face. As much as she disliked this girl from their first encounter, Max had to admit she was amusing. Annoyingly in your face and obviously self absorbed, but amusing.

Fang snorted. "I got sat next to her by the teacher, only free computer. She kept watching what I was doing the whole time, basically. Being nosey."

"So you hate her so much you gave her the silent treatment?" she queried, tugging slightly on his arm to pull him back next to her. His legs were longer than hers, he'd gained a little distance on her through the trek across the fields. He let himself get dragged backwards, falling into step with her. A few seconds of silence passed before he sighed, still not looking round at Max.

"She was…she was…clingy." he wasn't sure how to phrase it, having a girl you barely know drape herself across your lap when helping you with the computer. He certainly had no idea how to say it without Max going off the wall about it.

"Clingy?" Max asked, raising an eyebrow at the side of his face. Silence again, before a reply.

"I think…she likes me…you know…_more_ than a friend," Fang ventured, finally turning his head, if only slightly, to look at Max's reaction. Both her eyebrows had shot up, and her mouth had formed an 'o' shape as she took the information in. Then it turned into a grin as she laughed.

"What?" he asked annoyed, setting his jaw.

"Nothing," Max got out through small fits of giggles. "Just the idea…you and her…come on Fang it is pretty funny!" He simply glared at her as she giggled, unsure if the hilarity was from the idea of him and Lissa, or him and another girl in general.

"I mean, she's almost the complete opposite of you. I know you're cute, but man she's kind of dippy…" Max continued as she got her giggles under control, a silly grin still plastered on her face as she looked forwards, towards the PE changing area. Fang let a smirk creep across his face.

"I'm cute?" he asked, an eyebrow raised. He saw Max's cheek turn a slight pink, but she didn't look back at him. "Do 'Fang' and 'cute' even belong in the same sentence?" Silence again. Max refused t look around at him as her cheeks slowly faded back to their normal pale peach. As the advanced on the PE grounds, Fang had almost given up on an answer when one came, whispered ever so softly.

"I think they do…"

He smiled slightly, reaching his hand around her waist and pulling Max closer to him as they walked. She squirmed slightly, mumbling something about people thinking they're bother and sister, then seemed to forget it as she wrapped an arm around him as well, slipping her hand into his back pocket. Fang planted a small kiss on the side of her head before breaking away, taking her hand from his pocket and wrapping it in his.

"We can get the records amended, you know." He whispered, his voice almost lost on the wind. Max smiled to herself before looking round at him, her eyes meeting his. Soft and brown, the gentle look she loved.

"That would be nice," she whispered back, to which Fang's smile widened and he gently squeezed her hand. Having successfully lost Lissa on their way to PE, they'd also managed to get there before even the teacher himself. Settling down on the stairs to the changing rooms, Fang wrapped an arm around Max and held her close to him, resting his cheek against her head as they enjoyed the solitude. It seemed all too fast that the PE coach started trekking across he field to them. Breaking apart, the teens stood, sharing one more glance and smile before being let in to change for PE.

Sometimes, Fang missed being on the run. They had much more time alone back then.

*~*~*~*

Max let out a happy sigh as she stepped out of the shower, wrapping herself in her own, large fluffy towel. Normally steam would be billowing out after her. Hot showers felt _so_ good after so many river baths. This time, however, the water had been almost freezing cold as it beat against her, slowly diminishing the burning feeling under her skin. It had subsided after forty five minutes, but Max remained under there until an hour had passed, not giving the discomfort a chance to come back.

Glancing at her reflection in the mirror Max noted, with relief, her face still looked normal. No flushing. Turning around she checked the back of her neck yet again for an expiry date. Still none in sight. She sighed in relief and set about drying her hair with a smaller towel. The worry of getting near the end of her lifespan had been playing on her mind since the headaches first began. They had no idea how long the process would take, or when it would occur.

Every hot flush episode brought the fear right to the surface again.

Fang's seemed to have stopped dead. Probably because it was her blood inside him giving him the problem, since he had a transfusion. Whatever he was experiencing had been a side effect of her blood. Max shuddered as the water evaporated off her skin, stupid body with its stupid hot flushed and the stupid voi-

_**You cant dwell on yourself, Maximum. **_

_Right on cue,_ Max thought back snidely, leaning against the side of the bath as she stared absently at a wall tile. _What words of wisdom do you have for me this time?_

_**Just a warning. Trying to hold in your emotions could lead to worse things, Max. Make sure you share them with someone.**_

_Fang and I have talked about this stuff,_ she retaliated, narrowing her eyes at the wall tile like it had offended her. _Haven't you got anything new to lecture me about?_

_**I'm not talking about **_**this**_** Maximum. It's a warning for the future, if you want to save the world.**_

_Same old lectures, Voice. You're becoming a one trip pony. _Max pulled herself to her feet and tightened the towel around her, relinquishing the death stare on the innocent wall tile. _I don't need to talk about anything with anyone other than Fang, and I've already talked with him about everything on my mind so unless you anything new to say, get lost._

Silence. Max smiled triumphantly to herself and unlocked the two doors leading to the bathroom, flopping the smaller towel over the side of the bath before pushing her bathroom door open. Taking a few steps out, she recoiled, stepping slightly back behind the door again.

Papers were spread out all over the bed covers in some kind of random order. In the middle of them lay a Fang, resting on his stomach with a large, yellow book leant against the pillow. He glanced at the paper in his hand, creased his eyebrows then flipped a few more pages in the book with his free hand. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the door move, and instantly glanced up, quickly looking away again.

"I put your pyjamas by the door," he said without looking back up, hiding below his hair. Max gazed at him a few more seconds before looking about, noting the purple camisole pyjamas as he said, on a chair next to the bathroom door.

"Thanks," she mumbled, which he acknowledged with a nod as she picked them up and shut herself back in the bathroom to change, flopping the large towel on the floor and picking up the smaller one again, draping it around her shoulders before going back into her room. Fang still hadnt moved, though he was no longer turning pages but scrolling down them with a finger.

"What're you doing?" she whispered, like she was afraid of disturbing him. Peering over his shoulder she saw the papers in his hand were the ones they'd brought back from the institute, the one with his experiment number on it. Taking a quick glance about she noted the rest of the flocks were scattered across the bed, a set of numbers next to their names circled in pen. Looking back, they were circled on Fang's ones as well.

"I figured the numbers might not be encrypted," he said distractedly, turning a page and running his finger down it. "There were co ordinates questions on that maths paper we had to sit yesterday. Like, co ordinates for things on a map. Thought, maybe, these numbers could work the same way…"

He looked up, meeting Max's large, surprised eyes. "It's worked for most of the kids. I even got an exact address for almost every one of us, Max. I might have found where my parents live…" He held her gaze as she seemed to forget to blink, letting the reality of that sink into her brain. After a few seconds or so, a smile finally spread across her face.

"That's great Fang!" She exclaimed through a fake smile, ignoring his eyebrow as it hit the ceiling. "We could go and look for them sometime, where's the place you found, DC?"

Behind the happy mask, Max's brain was doing a backwards flip. Of course she wanted him to find his parents, it was something the whole flock had talked about more than a few times when back in the E shaped house. It was something they _dreamt_ of. But he was her right wing man. The man she kept flying for.

She didn't want to lose him.

Fang pushed himself up and swung his legs either side of Max, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist before resting his head on her shoulder. She lent her head against his, enjoying the silence as she slowly strokes his wrists.

"I know your fake smiles, Max. What's wrong?" His warm breath brushed her cheek as he whispered ever so softly. Max repressed a shiver and placed her hands over his, not saying a word.

_**Talk to him, Maximum.**_

_Go away, Voice._

_**Tell him what you're worried about. Communication will help, today and in the future.**_

Max sighed and nuzzles his cheek, trying to find the right words. Communication in itself wasn't exactly a foreign art to Max. She'd had to settle so many disputes, comfort crying flock members, pull Fang out of his darn hard shell. Problem was, she'd never had to admit this before.

She never had to admit she was scared.

"Fang…" none of the words floating about in her head would behave, or form a comprehendible sentence to explain what she was thinking. She felt him lightly stroke her stomach, keeping the other arm wrapped around her middle.

"I'm not…I don't…I can't lose you." She expected to feel his smirk against her neck as he kissed her, but he didn't. His face was set like stone as he mulled over what she said. Finally he reached down and pulled her legs up over his, lifting her so she was no longer seated between his own before setting her behind back on the bed.

"Max," he stated as he wiped a stray strand of wet hair behind her ear, his eyes dark and piercing once again capturing her own. "I'm never going to leave you. Not for money. Not for a girl. Definitely not for people I've only just met, even if we are related."

Max smiled slightly as he continued. "You're the one who kept us all going when Jeb left. You kept me going after what happened to the rest of the Flock. You kept me alive with your own _blood,_ remember?" She nodded and he leant forwards, lingering on a kiss on her forehead before pulling back and meeting her gaze again, a very small smirk on his lips.

"You worry to much," he scolded, the grin widening. Max couldn't help but grin back.

"One of us has to," she whispered, burning her head into his neck as he held her tightly with one arm, lightly stroking the back of her head with another.

_**I'd believe him whole heartedly if I were you.**_

_And why's that? _Max silently cursed at the voice for ruining their moment, wishing she could meet the guy behind it, if there was one, just once. It would be fun to kick his behind for even suggesting she wouldn't believe Fang.

_**Because you, Fang or I cannot control the motions that have been set in place by today's events, as well as how you both react to upcoming issues. Just remember, he is sincere to those words, no matter what things look like.**_

_Whatever…_ Max stifled a yawn into Fang's shoulder, which jiggled slightly as he chucked and moved to lay her down. She heard rustling as papers were removed from the bed, but he didn't make a move to tuck her in.

He remembered she couldn't sleep under the covers.

Max closed her eyes and curled up slightly on the squishy pillows, her body still cool from the cold shower. She felt the damp towel being whisked from her shoulders and heard the door shut softly. Hushed voices came from outside the room, something about a laptop, but Max was already succumbing to sleep. As she drifted off her solitude was interrupted, just moments before she slipped into slumber, by the Voice.

_**Just remember he means it, Max. Remember, and nothing will go wrong.**_


	10. Filler: Jason's School Report

**Ok, so writers block is a huge pain in the butt with this story, so it seems. Know what I'm trying to write, cant get it onto the page properly. Instead, you get a tiny flash back. Yes, in essense this is a filler chappie, but its a little flash to the past, of Fractured. Remember the little kid who saw them leave the zoo? Good, if not go check out Chapter 6 and get back to us XD its near the bottom. This is what he wrote in his school report, and how people reacted to it.

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**Yeah, I know I suck, but its better than posting _nothing._**

**Strawberry Shortcake: I do try to keep them in character as much as i can, even when adding fluffy stuff =P feel free to scold me at any time for straying from the norm.**

**Luv-her4ever: Dun worry, everything will work out in the end =3**

**Crazy: Put that crystal ball down! And thanks =P

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**My Skool Trip**

**By. Jason Wellwater**

On Wensday last week my class went by thees big bus things to the zoo with our teechers to see all the diffrent animals they have there. My teecher said most of them we wouldn't see in America alone and that we would have to traval to see them outside of america, which is silly cos my dad says theres somefin of everyfin in america, you just have to no where to look.

We saw loads of diffrent animals while we were there and a zoo keeper let us watch him feed the pengwins and the lieons. I don't understand why lieons are called that, cos they cant even speak people so they cant lie to us. Mabe they lie to eachover about where the food is. I hope there mums smak them for lieing, my mum tells me its bad.

The animal I didn't like much were the elephents, because they have such big ears they can here everyfin you say to your friends and theres no privecy from them. I think they all talk bout us after we leeve and have a laugh at us. Teecher doesn't believe me but dad thinks im right.

Teecher and the zoo keeper both said that the onkeys that we went to see were closely related to us, but ive never seen them at any famly reunions or any fin so I think there lieing to me, like the lieons do to there famlys.

The best part was when I saw an animal that left before anyone I told about it could see. The zookeeper said I had bin seeing things but I definitely saw them wiv my eyes before they left. In the corner of one of the pens and stuff there were too kids who looked about them slightly before they spred wings like a bird but more massive from there jumpers and took off into the sky. There was a guy and a girl and they flew off until they were out of my eye sight and no one else saw them

That was my favourite part of the zoo trip and I hope we go again so I can show my class and my parents and my teecher that I saw what I saw and didn't make it up. I think the bird peeple would be closer related then the monkeys, but ive still never seen them in my house before so teecher is probably rong bout that still.

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**OFFICIAL SCHOOL LETTER: URGENT DELIVERY**

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Wellwater.

It has come to our attention that your son Jason has been describing and drawing children with wings he 'saw' whilst on a trip to the zoo. Normally an imagination is coveted in young children, we fear he actually believes he saw such a thing fly out of the zoo whilst there. You can imagine this is very worrying for us.

Enclosed is a copy of the school report he wrote upon returning to the school, and he still tells us he actually saw two young adolescents, a male and a female, spread wings and fly over the walls of the zoo.

He can even describe the wing colour to us, and hair colours and skin tones.

We would like to offer you free access to our child psychologist as well as to any other non-expensive resources you feel you need to help your child realise such children do not exist. We hold his health in high regard and would like to hear from you as soon as possible.

Many Thanks

Miss Goodshow

Head Teacher.

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**OFFICIAL SCHOOL LETTER: URGENT DELIVERY**

Dear Mr and Mrs Wellwater,

We would like to apologise for the letter we sent you yesterday in the light of the recent news in New York. Seems sightings of the bird children have been confirmed by other members of the public and many a renowned police officer.

Please understand usually when a child makes such odd claims it is a cry for attention of the child is in need of some psychiatric assistance. We acted with his best interests at heart and did not wish to offend either you or your child.

Regards,

Miss Goodshow

Head Teacher.

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**THE PARENT'S REPLY  
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Dear Miss Goodshow,

Thank you for your apology. It really did startle us to believe that our child would make up something such as this for any reason, let alone for attention or because he is mentally unbalanced. He's still crying about it this evening and hasn't been himself since.

Expect to hear from out lawyer.

Kind regards,

Mr Wellwater


	11. Misunderstandings

**Whoo. Despite being ill and sleeping through most of the day, i got it by a bucket of inspiration this evening, about two hours ago, of how to start this next chapter. Which is good, because I was stuck as to how. So I sit here, slightly dizzy and head thumping, writing you an update. That means I've been less vigilante in how many times I've re read the thing, as may have missed more typos than usual.. My apologies, but i should be seeing a doc again Monday, so I'll be kind of back to normal in a bit.**

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**Crazy: yes. I have a crystal ball! Its callllllllled....Murphy. Because I say so. Thanks for commenting on the filler ^^; I love little kids when they ramble about things, its so cute. I havent taken yours, but stop seeing into the future XD Or i may have to commandeer it for a little while *shot*

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**Part 10**

Max jumped down the last two steps as she buttoned her cardigan, following the smell of pancakes wafting down the hallways to the kitchen. It was day four of school and although she still hated it with a passion, Max was beginning to enjoy the place in a slightly twisted way. After all, she had Fang to talk to in virtually class, and the ones she lacked him in there was Sam.

Sam. She stopped outside the kitchen door and pushed it open slightly, seeing Fang applying lashings of sticky sauce to a pile of pancakes in front of him. His back was to her as he picked up a fork and cut a lump of sticky pancake off with the side.

He still hadn't met Sam. Of course, she mentioned him when he asked how Maths had gone one day, but never really into much detail. Not that there was anything for her to hide, he was just a friend, but all the same the idea of the two meeting sent familiar pangs of nervous nausea through her stomach.

Yet she didn't have a clue why. She'd told Sam she and 'Nick' were in a relationship, explained the whole 'adopted but not related' thing, he seemed pretty cool with the idea. Now she wished Fang would have that same talk with his 'friend'.

She remembered her meeting with Fang's resident stalker, the red haired cheerful girl. Lissa. Linda. Something like that. He himself didn't like her, Max picked that up with ease, and she thought the girl was way too over the top. Fang's complete opposite if you looked at her more closely. Hated was too much of a strong word for what Max felt, that could be applied to many people in her life, but not the red haired girl.

She just needed to learn to read people.

Max watched him stick another forkful in his mouth and sip the juice Anne always placed at their place settings. That was another thing that played on her mind. The woman was like a robot mum, possibly too kind to be a proper mother. There were always large meals and plenty of snacks, seemingly no curfew, though they'd never really had a reason to have one imposed. She made their beds, she washed their clothes, she did all the chores herself.

Something wasn't right. Everything was too cosy and easy, like a padded room. Max was certain she was an extension of the School and the institute. As soon as they properly planned their next move, she and Fang were out of here as fast as their wings would take them.

She sighed softly. It would be a huge change, going back on the run again. They may have been living the cushy life for a short time but it was so easy to slip into. Too easy to come accustomed to soft bed and hot showers, it was a good ploy to keep them still, where the school could watch them.

Fang looked round when he heard a sigh. The door pushed right open as Max walked in, pulling her collar over the ribbon tie newly fastened around her neck. Fang smirked slightly as she flicked her hair over the collar. She caught his gaze and raised an eyebrow, but he simply shrugged before looking back at his breakfast, putting another forkful into his mouth. His eyes followed her to her seat, hidden by his bangs.

She had _no_ idea how pretty he thought she was.

Turning his attention back to his breakfast, Fang chewed slowly as he speared another pile of pancake pieces. He turned the fork over in his hand, examining the sticky mess impaled on it. School was dull. The one lesson he might enjoy was way too easy, the rest seemed to be a waste of time. Though English was currently ok, just writing letters and stories and things.

He shoved the forkful in his mouth as his mind wandered. He still had Lissa attached to his hip in their shared lessons and at lunchtime. She'd invited herself to dine with them yesterday lunchtime as well, though she spent most of that asking random questions about their home lives and parents and things. Max had kept to the missionaries lie, that Fang's parents were with them and that they'd been adopted by someone here. She _always_ seemed to have a question to ask, it got boring quite fast. Fang himself had stayed quiet, trying not to give the girl even a second of eye contact, hoping she'd finally get the message.

He was also curious about his friend Max had made, since he didn't seem to be as attached to her as Lissa was to him he wasn't too worried about him trying anything he could get a broken nose for. He glanced up to see Max happily shoving forkfuls of pancake into her mouth, ignoring Anne as she mentioned something about going shopping at the weekend. He'd ask about Sam again later today, might finally get to meet him.

Finishing his plate, Fang took it over to the sink and slipped it into the warm washing up water. He wasn't going to argue with Anne about not having to do chores, it was an easy ride. One he was happy to take full advantage of until they knew their next move. Slipping his hand in his blazer he pulled out his timetable, unfolding it and running a finger along 'Thursday'.

"Maths before lunch," he stated simply, gazing over the paper at the back of Max's head. She half turned in her seat to look at him, the fork from her next mouthful still between her lips. "Meet you by the toilets?" She nodded and smiled, removing the fork and spinning back to spear another pile of sticky pancake. Fangs smiled slightly as he refolded the paper, not taking his eyes off the back of her head.

_Definitely_ pretty.

*~*~*~*

"Its five minutes before the end of the lesson!" The teacher scolded, a long thin stick in her hand now pointed at the floor as she glared. Samuel fidgeted in his seat, more from his bursting bladder than the woman's stare. Next to him, Max seemed to be trying to stop her hysterical laughter by biting her lip. She was failing.

Miserably.

"Please, Miss. I wont last that long!" He tried to add desperation to is voice. Yes, he needed the bathroom badly. Bt he could last five minutes, he just didn't want to. They were running over the inner workings of some part of a computer. He didn't even know _what_ part it was.

Point was he didn't care.

The teacher rolled her eyes and pointed towards the door with her stick. Samuel swept his books into his bag before grabbing it and standing, leaving a single slip of paper on the desk as he high-tailed it to the door and exited the room. Max was still grinning her head off, the laughed dissipating under the death stare from the teacher before she raised her stick and continued her lecture. Reaching sideways discretely, Max pulled the piece of paper towards her and unfolded it silently.

**Meet me by the toilets? ~Sam.**

_Guess he wants to spend lunch with me…_ Max thought as she screwed the piece of paper up and slipped it in her pocket. She sat there for a few minutes, blotting out the teacher's voice, until it hit her. _Crap, that means he's gunna meet Fang._ The butterflies returned with a vengeance at that point and she no longer had to try and blot the rambling woman out. Her panicky brain was doing it all for her.

*~*~*~*

Having finished his work ten minutes before the rest of the class was supposed to end, Fang was allowed out to lunch early. He didn't get any lunch yet, however, but instead made his way to his and Max's meeting point. Right by the toilets. It was the only place in the school they both had to pass no matter where their classes were, so it worked out well.

Five minutes later he watched a guy jog down the hallway to the toilets, his school bag slung over one shoulder as he literally ran into the bathroom door. Fang raised an eyebrow before looking back down the hallway he'd just come from.

He must have been really desperate.

"Hey." Fang knew that voice, and it wasn't Max's. Turning his head very slightly, he noted Lissa standing barely a foot from his side, a huge smile plastered across her face as she readjusted the straps on her shoulders. She must have gotten out of class early too, though how she got so close to him without him noticing made him raise an eyebrow.

"Hey," he replied, turning his head back to look down the corridor Max's class was down. Couldn't be any more than a few minutes before the bell, then they could shake Lissa and go have some lunch. His attention was soon drawn away, however, when Lissa moved in front of him. He looked down and found himself meeting her eyes, big and blue and sparkly, if they were even possible.

"You know," she began, closing the distance between them until her chest was pressed to his torso. Fang mentally noted how tiny she was compared to him, height wise. He started at her in a concrete, un-emotive way as she held his gaze, eyelashes half shielding her eyes as she continued. "We're having a dance, in like, a week tomorrow. To celebrate our football team's loss or something. But, I thought, maybe we could go together, like, as a couple."

Fang raised an eyebrow as a smile spread across her face. She was asking him out? Didn't she even think to ask if he was taken yet, or did she think he wouldn't be simply because he was new here? Better yet, did she even _care_?

"I don't dance." His reply was short and anything but sweetly put. He still held her gaze, more because he couldn't think of anywhere else to look. He wished the damn bell would go as Lissa put a hand on his chest. He tensed up, setting his jaw as she batted her eyelids.

"We could still go together," her voice was low, sweet, less childish. She jumped her eyes from his to his lips and back again, a small and, she probably hoped seductive, smile on her lips. The bell for lunch went but she lingered there, her breath on his neck making him uncomfortable. Fang frowned as students filed past them, ignoring them. His brain set on not wanting Max seeing this, he didn't want her to think he was going back on his word. He opened his mouth to comment again, tell her he wouldn't go with her, but he didn't get the chance.

Lissa tipped smoothly onto her tip toes and pressed her lips to his.

Sam stepped out of the bathroom a few seconds later, looking about to see if Max had made it there yet or not. She hadn't, so he leant back against the wall behind him an dropped his bag to the floor. It was a few seconds before he turned his head absently to the right and saw a couple of teens kissing in the hallway.

Her lips were pressed to his, her body arched to press itself against his as she balanced herself with a hand on his chest. He was lent against the wall behind him, his eyes shut and his eyebrows slightly furrowed, hands limply at his sides. Sam held in a smirk. She probably caught the poor boy off guard.

"Hey Sam!" His head snapped back to the corridor ahead of them, Max smiling at him as she strode through the masses of hungry school children. He waved once, returning her smile. He knew she already had a relationship with the guy she lived with. If she didn't, she certainly would have asked her out by now. She was gorgeous, funny, smart. Well, except for maths. That Nick guy was lucky to have her.

He was going to meet him at lunch today. Might as well be friendly with him to, so he didn't think he would take their friendship any further.

Fang was stuck. Entirely stuck. He didn't want to touch Lissa, he was afraid of hurting her, considering how small and fragile she seemed in comparison to Max. Even she seemed fragile to him sometimes, but at least he knew she could take a punch or two.

Lissa would probably crumple from one blow.

She'd pressed her lips to his, tilted her hips into his, holding his shirt as she kissed him. He felt her lips move against his, but he didn't respond. He didn't _want_ to be kissing Lissa, he didn't want anything more to do with the girl, certainly not to be snogging her in a school corridor while Max could turn up any second.

"Hey Sam!" He recognised the voice and his eyes shot open, panic invading his system like it did when Angel was taken from them. His limp arms finally came to life as he pushed Lissa, by the shoulders, back down to the soles of her feet. She opened her eyes as he did so, a small happy smile on her face as she pulled back, heading into the girls bathroom. Fang wiped his mouth on the back of his blazer sleeve and looked at it disgustedly.

Sam looked sideways as the bathroom door slammed shut, seeing the female of the kissing couple had finally let the guy breathe. He guy seemed to be staring at his blazer sleeve like it had said something inappropriate and sent the girl running, that was before he met Sam's gaze with his own dark, piercing eyes. Sam nodded in a silent male-like greeting, and the boy nodded once back before picking up and shouldering his bag, leaning against the wall once more as he gazed down the same corridor as Sam.

"Thought you had guys to spend lunch with," Fang watched as Max approached the guy leaning against the wall the other side of the toilet door. He guy shrugged as he pushed himself from the wall, swinging his bag back on his shoulders.

"You wanted me and Nick to meet sometime, thought might as well do it today, right?" She returned his smile as she agreed with him, beginning to go off on a tangent about what he missed in the last few minutes of their IT class, but Fang couldn't focus. His face was blank, but his mind was whirring away like crazy.

_Crap, that's Sam? How much did he see? Did he think I wanted that? Will he say something to Max? Should I talk to him? To her? What the he-_

"Well, we don't have to wait, Nick's already here." Fang was snapped out of his thoughts as Max said his pretend name, his wide eyes meeting her own, soft gaze. He looked from Max to Sam, who quickly plastered on a smile and nodded to him. Fang nodded back, his face serene, but inside his brain was imploding.

_He's going to tell her. I need to talk to him. Soon._

"Nicky!" Oh God, it got worse. Lissa burst out of the bathroom again, plastering on a huge, happy smile as she looked between him and the other two. Max's smile immediately dropped as she looked the girl up and down before turning her attention back to Fang.

"Lunch?" she asked, a slight smile returning to the corner of her mouth. He nodded as she started towards the cafeteria, Fang hanging back slightly to walk next to Sam.

"It's not what it looked like," Fang muttered, his eyes on the back of Max's head as she got to the cafeteria door. Sam snorted and he turned to look at him, their eyes meeting. He could see all the emotions playing across his face. Slight confusion, anger, annoyance.

"That's what they all say dude. You don't deserve her."

He didn't get a chance to reply as Lissa caught up with them, squeezing herself between the two boys and chattering about the dog she had back at home, and what her dad did for a living. Fang kept sneaking glances at Sam for the whole of the lunch time, unable to either talk to him or Max about the incident with Lissa because _she wouldn't damn well get lost._ He needed to get to them before gossip spread.

He didn't want to hurt Max.

*~*~*~*

"Nick Walker?" Fang was almost out the door when the teacher called his name, motioning with his hand for him to come over to his desk. They had a seating plan in science classes, which majorly impeded his ability to talk to her before Sam said anything. Now, he'd been just about to talk to her when their teacher called him back. He glanced at Max, few feet ahead of him, who shrugged.

"Meet you by the toilets," she said and he nodded silently, walking briskly to the teacher's desk as Max let the door slowly close itself and headed down the hallway. She needed the bathroom anyway. Getting there, she was just pushing the door open when she heard her name called. Spinning round, she saw Sam jogging towards her down the hallway, his face red like he'd been jogging a while.

"Hey Sam, what's up..?" She queried, letting the door fall shut but still leaning her palm on the door. He stopped and leant his palms on his knees for a few seconds, catching his breath before looking back up at her earnestly.

"I need…to talk to you…" he said between deep breaths, pulling himself up straighter as he recovered. Max raised an eyebrow as she turned to face him properly and folded her arms, waiting for him to continue.

"Its about Nick…" Sam continued, his face finally loosing its added colouring. "Before you got there for lunch…he was…" He rubbed his arm awkwardly, looking away from Max to stare at anything _but _that look in her eyes. She waited for him to continue, but he'd stopped dead.

"Nick was doing what?"

"He was kissing that red haired girl, Lissa…" it was almost a whisper as he looked back up and met her eyes again. Max searched his face, hoping he was lying, but he looked pained. He hadn't wanted to tell her, but felt he had to. He was her friend. He saw Max's face fall, her stature flop as she took in his words, letting them sink into her brain.

"He…kissed her..?" Max managed to force out, her arms dropping to her sides. Sam simply nodded, shifting his feet awkwardly. "Are you sure…it was Nick..?"

"Yeah…I saw her go into the toilet afterwards…"

Max could feel her legs shaking as they began to feel like jelly. He mind was running away with itself, running over what he had told her only a few nights before. He said he'd never leave her for a girl. _Never_ leave her for a girl.

So he'd not tell her and keep Max as a tag-a-long instead?!

Anger started to replace the disbelief as tears threatened the corners of her eyes. He'd gone back on his word so quickly, it hurt. He'd dumped her for an eccentric red haired bimbo he'd only known for a few days. She hadn't held him when he was down, helped him over come life threatening wounds, kept him and a family fed for years. She was normal, fragile.

A single tear found its way down Max's cheek as she saw him striding down the hall towards her and Sam, smirking that same, Max melting smirk when he saw her standing there, too far away to see her slightly red face.

This time it didn't melt her heart, it wrenched it painfully. Max couldn't help but wonder if he smiled for _her _like that.

"Sam," he voice was slightly shaken, so unlike her it made hr want to vomit, but right now she didn't care. Her brain wasn't thinking straight as anger and hurt clouded her thoughts, making her shake. Fang's face started to crease, seeing the sadness on her face, but she ignored it. "Sam, I need a favour."

"Anything," he said simply, refusing to look around at Fang. Max took one last look at her right wing man, then did the single most stupid thing she'd ever done. Something she'd remember and regret doing to him for the rest of her life.

She kissed Sam.


	12. Avoidance

**Yup. It was a cliffie. Because I felt kinda mean like that. This one...I hope you don't mind emotions and crud, because that's what this one is made of, plus the beginning of them making up, but in a very subtle way. Kinda. Anyway, hope you enjoy. It's kinda angst-y and stuff because i dun feel well, and fluff doesn't come to me when im feeling icky.**

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**Strawberry Shortcake: Thar you go, one update, a la mode. Thank you muchly for the review =3 **

**Midnight Shadows: Ah, but then there would be less stuff to play with, and everything would be plain sailing. Plain sailing isn't really a thing in Max and Fang's lives, right? ;D**

**luh-ver4ever: Yar, they be annoying people that set things in motion, as my friend very deftly put it once. I dislike them both personally, but i based them off people i know XD a girl with her head up her butt and a guy who doesnt want to say anything about his crush and stays Mr. Nice Guy.**

**Crazy: Yup. Dumb as dumb things that are very dumb indeed. ...Did i say dumb yet? But it will get sorted, now worries, I'm too much of a FAX fan to have them fall apart =3**

**Huuuuge thank you for all the reviews. Four is the most I've had on one chapter for this story, thanks a load people =3 Keep reviewing, it helps my fingers get a wiggle on and write ^^ Page extra worth of writing for the awesome review turn out =3  
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**Part 11**

The school's back doors flew open as Fang stormed out of the corridor. They smacked hard against the walls either side of them and swung shut with a crash as he strode across the playground. He yanked at the tie around his neck until it was loose enough to pull over his head, then did so, discarding it on the ground as he walked determinedly towards the school playground's wall.

He wasn't angry at Max. Lissa had caused it by kissing him. _He _had caused it by not pushing her away. Sam caused it by gossiping, as teenagers do. A tiny chain reaction that lead to a huge explosion, and Max was caught in the crossfire.

He couldn't talk to her, not right now. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he shook the schoolbag from his shoulders and lobbed it at a tree, which it hit with a loud thump before flopping to the floor with a sigh as he started on his blazer. He was so angry with himself, with Lissa, with Sam. He knew that Sam probably wouldn't give them a few seconds alone to talk about it, he was her 'friend'. That's friends were supposed to do, interfere.

Fang was worried he'd give the guy a broken nose. That wouldn't help his case.

He discarded the blazer as he kept striding forwards, undoing the top button of his shirt before yanking the thing over his head, revealing the black undershirt he'd taken to wearing. It was a quick change to go for a fly, and it certainly would help today. He tossed the shirt-ball aside, still staring at the wall ahead of him as he advanced on it.

His world was crashing down around him. The reason he kept on fighting before life became so cushy was because of Max. _His_ Max. She'd called him her boyfriend, he'd let her kiss him without running away. She'd let him hold her when her own world tried to fall apart.

"Fang, wait!" He recognised her voice but he didn't look around straight away. For a second he didn't care who saw him fly over the wall, see him leave the girl he loved behind in the mess he'd created simply because he didn't know what to say. As he twitched his wings below his undershirt, it hit him he shouldn't jeopardize their position for his own idiocy. He looked around and his eyes were instantly drawn to Max.

She was alone, leaning against the school door looking like a scared child. Her eyes were bright red, her cheeks flushed as she held door to keep it open. The sun caught the trail of a single tear that had flowed down her cheek, making it stand out. She looked fragile, like a normal girl. Not the strong Max he remembered.

Fang had broken her.

He couldn't look at her anymore, it hurt. Turning away he threw all of his dark wings out in one swoop and pulled himself off the concrete. Away from his life, away from his mistakes, away from the one he loved. He didn't look back again as he pulled himself higher and higher into the sky. Only when he was well above the houses did he let his mask slip. Tears found their way down his face as his mind ran away with itself.

The one thing he cared about more than living he'd messed up so beyond recognition. She'd been crying. Max never cried in front of anyone. It took long enough for her to cry in front of him, and that took the loss of almost her whole flock. He'd hurt her so badly. Silent tears escaped from his swollen eyes but he kept flying, away from that school. Away from Sam and Lissa. Away from reality.

Because he didn't know what else to do.

*~*~*~*

Max flopped to the floor against the heavy door, crying unashamedly as Fang disappeared into the distance. She cursed her raptor vision, being able to watch him disappear for so much longer than a normal person. But what was normal about watching the guy you love _fly_ away from you in disgust?

Probably nothing.

She dropped her head into her hands and sobbed. She hadn't cried so hard since they returned to the E shaped house. She was so confused, so lost. Fang has kissed that girl first, so why was he so mad at her for kissing Sam? He was angry enough to fly away without explanation, to leave her here with just her thoughts to guide her.

She knew she shouldn't have kissed Sam. It was one of her stupid snap judgements, one of the things that was either an awesome idea or a total failure. _That_ had been a total failure. She should have confronted him, or simply walked away, like the mature Flock leader she was supposed to be. Instead, she'd done exactly the same thing he had, but _right in front of him._

_Idiot_, she scolded herself again and again in her head, trying to compose herself before she went back to Sam, tell him Fang had stormed away before she had a chance to talk to him. She didn't want him to see her cry any more than he already had.

She felt an arm slide around her shoulders and pull her to an adolescent chest. Unable to correct herself, Max buried her head and sobbed into Sam's shirt, shaking uncontrollably as she did so. She felt a hand stroke through her hair, the am tighten around her, but it made her cry more.

It reminded her of Fang.

_So much for not letting him see me cry_. Normally Max would be mortified if anyone saw her cry, but this time she didn't care. She let Sam hold her, try and soothe her, but inside she was running everything over in her mind again and again, ignoring Sam's motions and words in case they reminded her of Fang.

_**Talk to him, Max.**_ She mentally cringed as the voice invaded her thoughts, talking calmly and clearly over the fuzziness of her distraught mind.

_Get the hell out of my head. Now._

_**You need to talk to someone, Max. You'll tear yourself apart if you don't.**_

Max finally started listening to what Sam was mumbling to her, still stroking a hand though her hair as she cried against his shirt. He was telling her over and over that 'Nick' kissed the other girl first and that he was wrong to be angry with Max, because he's the one that started it all off. Her sobs slowly subsided to the occasional sniff as Sam held her, refusing to let her go.

"Sam?" Her voice was weak, soft. It made her sick inside, but at that exact moment she couldn't care less. She glanced up to see him looking down at her, his face set in concern as he studied her own, tear stained cheeks.

"I'm sorry I soaked your shirt." He cracked a small smile, wrapping both arms around her shoulders as he held her gaze.

"It's fine," he half whispered, glad to see a soft smile returning to Max's own face. He wasn't sure what to think any more. Max was incredibly hung up of that guy, even if he had snogged another girl in the hallway. He gazed at her beautiful face, streaked with sorrow and fresh tears, and wished she'd see he wasn't right for her. But he couldn't tell her that. She had to get there on her own.

"I need another favour…" she looked away from him as she said it, wiping her eyes on her blazer sleeve and taking large gulps of air, trying desperately to compose herself. Sam kept the smile plastered on his face, already knowing what was coming. He didn't like her idea, but it would help her get Nick back. He didn't like him, but it made her happy. He just wanted to see Max happy.

"Anything."

*~*~*~*

For the first time since they started school, Max walked home alone. Sam had offered to walk her, but she'd politely declined, against the voice's incessant ranting to have some time to think. She'd gathered all of Fangs belongings up and just headed home like nothing had happened. Mainly, she wished nothing _had _happened, or they could do the day over again.

She'd found the house key buried in his shirt, still tucked under the collar like it usually was. He couldn't get in the house without it. Maybe he hadn't meant to leave it behind. Despite the obvious need to be home so he could get in the door, Max walked slower than usual, her mind still confused.

What exactly had happened today? Fang has kissed the girl he disliked, who he must actually like and was pretending not to. Sam had told her, and she'd kissed him right in front of Fang. He had no reason to get angry with her, as Sam had said, because he committed the offence first.

So why was he angry with her?

_**Don't dwell on yourself, Maximum. Think about the big picture.**_

_Screw you._Max readjusted the bag straps on her shoulders, her own bag on her left and Fang's on the right as she approached Anne's house. Unlocking the door, Max carefully hung the key over the doorbell, in plain sight, before heading inside and checking the house. As expected, he wasn't home.

Dumping all of Fang's stuff in his room, Max grabbed her duvet and pulled it downstairs behind her, dropping it in the living room before heading to the kitchen for comfort food. Fishing about in the fridge she found a plate of brownies, and some ice cream in the freezer. Getting a large glass bowl and combining a huge amount of the two, couple with some chocolate sauce, Max wrapped herself up in the duvet on the sofa and began picking at her pick me up.

She was pretty sure by now he wasn't angry with _her_ as such, though she had kissed Sam in front of him he'd kissed that red haired stalker first. It wasn't like he caught her cheating on him. If he was mad at her he was a hypocrite. Fang was one f the most sensible people she knew, he wasn't likely to be mad at her for something he already did himself.

Maybe he was mad for another reason. Max just had to figure out _why._

*~*~*~*

Fang stared off into the distance as the sun set. His face still red from crying for so long, his eyes puffy and tender. He never cried - ever. Alone, around company, even if he was about to die he assumed he'd never cry. But he hadn't been able to stop the hot liquid flowing down his face for hours.

He was such an _idiot._

Not only had let another girl kiss him, but he'd brought Max to the brink of tears herself. Another who never cried. He wiped his eyes on his arm before flopping his head against the tree trunk, eyes screwed shut as he mentally battered himself for being an imbecile. He needed Max more than anything, and now she was seeing that Sam guy, all because of Lissa.

Now she probably thought he was dating her, that he liked her. A small part of him wanted to date her just to get back at Max for believing Sam, for not knowing the full story before she kissed him.

He'd seen the pain in her eyes when he walked towards her, knew Sam had told her what he saw. He wanted to tell her it was all ok, a misunderstanding, that Lissa had kissed him, that it felt wrong. But he didn't get the chance before she'd pulled Sam to her, pressed her lips to his. Fang had stopped dead, watching her press her body to his as Sam had wrapped his arms around her. He could see Max's body shaking, she didn't want to kiss Sam.

She was doing it to get back at him.

Even so, the anger had risen faster than reason. Fang wanted to punch something, to tear something's throat out, but instead he ran. He ran away from the problem he'd created and took off into the sky, the last piece of comfort he could find. He didn't want to risk hurting Sam, or hurting Max even more than she already did. He wanted everything to be fine, but nothing was right anymore. His world was upside down.

Fang's knuckles were throbbing in his lap. Blood stained his shirt and trousers from his broken knuckles, split from taking his anger out on an inanimate tree that had the misfortune to meet him. He blotted the pain out, flexing his fingers to make sure his hand still worked. Perhaps hitting hard objects was not a good way to vent anger, but it worked at the time.

He wanted a do-over, to start the day again and pretend this never happened. Better yet, he wanted to start over from before he almost died on the beach, never end up here in the first place. He dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his temples, trying to ward off a headache.

"I just want to be free…" he mumbled to himself, feeling fresh tears sting the corners of his eyes. He sniffed hard, trying to stop them surfacing. His cheeks burned as they escaped his eyes and freely flowed down his cheeks. This was the lowest he'd been in so long,

"That can be arranged, Freak."

Fang's head shot round to be met with an eraser fist, spiralling him off his branch. For a few seconds Fang let himself fall, enjoying the release from the sorrow trying to engulf his brain. He could suddenly understand why Max wanted to die when she had brain attacks in mid air. As soon as his sensible side kicked in he shot out his wings, cursing silently at the sudden pull of air under his wings jerking him back upwards. He pumped his shoulders powerfully, pulling him up high into the air.

Above him, Ari smiled his twisted smile, two erasers flanking him, their huge wings blocking out the setting sun on the upstrokes. Fang shielded his eyes to watch them carefully, their features hard to pick out against the blinding light behind them.

"The sad little birdie came out to play all by himself," Ari sneered, cracking his chuckles. The erasers beside him cackled, their faces gleefully evil. Fang furrowed his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes, glaring at the boy…man…wolf…thing, that had tried to kill him not so long ago.

"No Max to protect you, Fangy. Whatever will you do?" Ari's mock-simpering voice was scratchy and disrupted. It sounded like a wolf trying to be a grandmother, like in the story Max used to read to Angel at night. Fang felt a growl rise in the back of his throat, his hands curling into fists at his sides.

"Of course, I could always take her out of the equation…"

"You can keep your filthy paws _off of her!"_ Fang yelled, his body shaking in anger, his last ounce of restraint was preventing him from charging forwards and giving his smug face a bruise to remember. Ari simply laughed, as did his demonic minions a few seconds afterwards, joining in the gleefully evil laughter. When they didn't stop with him, Ari held up a hand, silencing them immediately. Fang deepened his glare, ready to pounce forwards.

"If I wanted to go and get Max, I could have when she was walking home all on her own today," Ari stated simply, waving an eraser mitt like he was teaching a lesson. "But then, even if I did get her, likelihood is I would have you on my tail afterwards. Right?"

Fang simply glared, the growl in his throat slowly getting louder and louder as his fists clenched and unclenched. He wanted to kick Ari's head clean off for trying to kill him, for hurting Max, for even suggesting he could subdue her. It annoyed him further Ari didn't have the decency to be scared, he simply smiled.

"Whereas if I pick you off first, she has nothing left to fight for. She'll be easy meat." Ari finished, his eyes glistening in the last of the days sunshine. Fang's glare lifted for a brief second, taking what Ari just said. He was going to kill him to get to Max?

_Wait…Did he just call Max 'meat'?_

Ari snapped his fingers and the erasers either side of him charged forwards one after another, claws out, fangs bared. Fang mentally cursed, throwing a balled fist at the first eraser. He caught it in the jaw, knocking it off balance and sending it spiralling sideways. Fang dropped a few feet to avoid the second eraser, cradling his now painful fist. _Mental note: Don't pummel trees when you're angry._

Fang swallowed a cry as the first eraser kicked him in the back, momentarily making him forget to flap. He righted himself and swung round with a roundhouse kick, catching the eraser right in the chest. The air left his lungs with a putrid smelling 'whoosh', the wolf dropping a few feet wile he caught his breath. Eraser two recklessly charged in with an uppercut, which Fang easily avoided after how many times Max had almost head butted him in the chin when she was in his arms, kicking the beast in the stomach.

Max. Images of her smiling face flashed behind his eyes. Her beautiful face laughing at with him, getting so close to kissing him, her in his arms.

Then Sam kissing her. That made him retch.

His mental detour cost him, allowing eraser two to get a hit in after all, smacking him in the cheek and sending him dropping like a rock until he recovered. Fang spit out a small amount of blood, wiping away a dribble of it from the corner of his mouth.

_They asked for it._ Fang surged up and caught eraser one under the jaw with a thump, wasting no time in giving him a good knee in the ribs. He head a bone crack, but wasn't sure if it was his own for the erasers until the wolf man stated to fall. Letting the anger in his brain take over, Fang smashed his hands down over the erasers ears, who let out a cry and crumpled completely.

Eraser two snarled and charged forwards, a hairy mitt curled into a fist. Fang soared upwards to dodge it, effortlessly swooping back down above the eraser and grabbing a large wing in each hand. He yanked the creatures wings backwards, who yelped and cried as bones, tendons and muscles ripped and cracked from the force. He dropped like a rock the second Fang let go, nice and simple. With nothing left to distract him, Fang's focus reset to where Ari had been.

But he wasn't there.

_Cowar-_ Fang was interrupted as a claw raked across his face, making deep welts in his cheek. Fang put a hand to the bleeding slashes as he recoiled, turning to face Ari. His fangs were bared, his claws flexing as he eyed the bird kid in front of him. The feeble creatures his father had put so much care into raising, ignoring his won flesh and blood.

"You don't stand a chance against Itex, Freak. Give it up now!"

_Itex?_ Fang thought to himself, not letting another brain sidetrack let his enemy get the upper hand. He catalogued the word at the back of his mind, his focus entirely on the eraser in front of him. Ari lunged at him, claws ready to dig into flesh. Fang nimbly dodged it, giving him a good kick in the back of the head for good measure. Ari growled louder, spinning round and grabbing Fang's leg before he could fly away, launching him a the nearest tree.

**CRACK**. Fang fell fro the small imprint in the tree, reopening his wings and flapping, looking about for Ari. He closed his eyes, trying to phase out his own ragged breathing and wings.

_Whoosh…whoosh…whoosh…whoosh whoosh…_

He swung round and met Ari's fist with a block, aiming two feet at the erasers chest, knocking him backwards and down about ten feet. Both Fang and Ari were breathing heavily by now, blood trickling its way down Fang's jaw and down his neck, Ari with an arm wrapped around his stomach.

"This isn't over, Freak." Ari finally dragged his eyes away from Fang's as he took off into the night sky, flying slightly awkwardly as he held his stomach. Fang watched him leave, making sure he was well out of sight before he finally started to relax. The adrenaline began to slowly seep out of his system, his hands and legs stabilising instead of twitching.

Doing a quick report, Fang checked out his injuries. His knuckles were killing him, covered in blood and tree bark, sill shaking slightly even after the adrenaline drained away. His face stung where Ari had raked deep welts in his cheek, and generally he ached from his impact with the tree. Considering pervious encounters with Ari, Fang considered himself to have got off lightly. He did another quick three-sixty, making sure he really was gone, before turning tail and heading home.

He didn't like what Ari had said. They were trying to bring him down because Max cared for him? Heh. They'd probably need to change their target to Sam after the events at school earlier today. Like she would forgive him that fast.

As he flew home, back to Anne's ridiculously big house, so many things ran though his head. They obviously knew he and Max went to that school, possibly where they lived. They needed to get a new plan and move on fast, before anything worse than flesh wounds happened. If they tried to hurt her thought him, it probably didn't mean plonking him in a cage at the school.

It probably meant something death like.

They weren't in any kind of state to make a move at the moment, with their social status in tatters and no trust between them it would be suicide. They'd probably argue so much erasers could creep up on them before the other noticed.

Landing just outside the door, Fang checked around his neck for the key then sighed annoyed, running a hand down his face. It must have still been under the collar of his shirt when he pulled it off. Reaching out to press the button, he spotted that same key hanging off the doorbell. Shrugging, he took it off and opened the door.

Stepping inside quietly, Fang kicked his shoes off and pushed the door shut as softly as it would close. Most of the lights in the house were off, but as he padded through the hallways he found two still on. The first was the kitchen, making a point of the two boxes of untouched pizzas and two big bottles of mountain dew on the counter. Next to them was a piece of Anne's note paper, with one word written on it.

**Fang**

_Wasn't Anne who left them out then, _Fang mused as he opened a bottle of mountain dew and took a swig, swilling the liquid around in his mouth and spitting it out, taking the last of the blood explosion with it. He took a longer glug before screwing the bottle back on, grabbing a pizza box as his stomach rumbled, a bottle of drink and turning the kitchen light out. On the way back to the stairs, he found the other light still on. Curious, he peeked around the door to check it out.

On the sofa, wrapped in the duvet they'd shared since their first night here, was Max. A box of tissues and a rubbish bin filled with used ones sat next to the chair, the end where her head lay. Many empty bowls and a bottle of mountain dew, half drunk, resided next to her too, along with an eaten tub of ice cream. Walking slightly into the room, he checked on her. She was sleeping peacefully, her face soft and restful, but it was obvious to anyone she'd probably cried herself to sleep, tear stains still streaked her face.

Fang put down his pizza and drink and pulled the blankets right up to her chin, checking none of her was unwrapped before picking up his stuff again. He padded silently upstairs and flopped onto his bed, placing the pizza and the mountain dew on the bedside table. The room he'd never used, having always shared Max's bed. A few second later, he rolled over and closed his eyes, ignoring the food as he forced himself to try and sleep.

He didn't feel too hungry any more.


	13. Fang's Letters

**Ok, so I'm not going to be around much later, so i figured I may as well post this sooner rather than later, in case i run out of time or forget. There's a massive time skip in this one, just to warn you =P Because i didn't want to fill in all the in between details about Max and Fang ignoring each other. It would have been a lot of thoughts, some faux-caring and dating and a few other things that might not necessarily really be needed. Therefore, I did what any sane person would do, and pretended it already happened. Whoo.**

**That means we get on with the story line. Which is better. Right? =3**

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**luh-ver4ever: Yeah, i needed a way to get Itex's name in without Angel to tell them about it =P that way was kind of lame, but Fang did get to kick butt. Which is always good.**

**Shortcake: I'm being mean to him arent I? .-. aww well, it gets much better for him from now on, I promise.**

**Please keep the reviews coming, I _love_ hearing what you have to say about my stories =3 not gunna get any better at writing without them after all =P That and I like toknow if people enjoy reading what I write. No reason to write them if people don't lie it.  
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**Part 12**

Max groggily noted someone was gently shaking her shoulder and sleepily opened her eyes, her fuzzy vision slowly focusing on Anne's face inches from her own. She had a soft smile on her face, her free hand picking up the bin filled with used tissues.

"He came home, sweetie." She wiped a few stray hairs off of Max's face as she spoke, but her smile wasn't her usual wide smile, it was a sympathetic one. She knew she and Fang were having issues, tha they were still unresolved or she wouldn't be sleeping on the couch. Max sighed and rubbed her eyes, remembering pouring her heart out to Anne in a blubbery fit of tears.

Man, that was an embarrassing memory.

Max hadn't spoken to Sam about all this stuff, despite the voice's advice. She didn't feel comfortable with it. She hadn't exactly felt comfortable taking about this stuff with Anne either, but she was so persistent when she came home to find all those used tissues, she had just…cracked.

She'd told her about everything that happened. That 'Nick' has kissed another girl even though they were a couple, and that she'd kissed Sam to get back at him, and then he'd just flown away and she hadn't seen him since. Anne had bought pizza for dinner as comfort food, told her she could stay up as long as she waited to waiting for him to come home.

She'd fallen asleep soon after though, he brain drained of energy.

Max pulled herself upright against the back of the chair and blinked sleepily, dry tears caking her eyes more than the usual sleep. Anne had told her to do exactly the same thing as the voice: talk to him. But it was so much harder to talk to someone than the idea was, especially when you don't usually talk about your feelings with one another.

Max folded back her blankets and stood, stretching out the kinks in her muscles. Sleeping on a sofa wasn't exactly brilliant for you, by the way. Her shoulder popped and a few other muscles complained, but all in all she was in one piece. Stifling a yawn and smoothing down her crumpled uniform, Max headed into the kitchen.

The thought of food made her feel sick, but she knew she had to eat.

Anne set down a plate of sausages and bacon with fried eggs in front of her, along with the usual glass of juice and a bottle of sauce. Max gave her a small smile in a thank you and picked up her fork, spearing a sausage and taking a bite out of it. She refused to turn her head when familiarly soft feet padded down the stairs.

Fang stopped outside the kitchen door, doing up his shirt over a clean black undershirt. Yesterday's slightly ripped and blood spattered one had been shoved in the washing basket in the hope Anne would just wash it and not ask questions. His muscles still ached very slightly to stand up straight, his knuckles throbbing and itchy under the formed scabs. The didn't like bending to do his shirt buttons up. The deep welts in his cheek were still clearly visible, and the other cheek was swollen slightly, very slightly bruised.

_There's no way I'm getting through breakfast without questions,_ he thought to himself as he did up the last few buttons on his shirt. Taking a deep breath he pushed open the kitchen door, pulling his tie out of his pocket as he did so.

"My God Nick what happened to your face?" Anne almost dropped the plate of sausages and bacon in her hand when Fang walked in the door tightening his tie around his neck. Max let her eyes stray sideways, taking in the damage to his face. She knew those kind of scratches, she'd had a set herself.

Eraser claws.

She furrowed her brows as she chewed a piece of bacon, waiting for him to look at her, to talk to her about it. He caught her eyes for barely a second, slipping his collar over his tie, but he broke the contact in favour of Anne's panicking, running her fingers over the cuts and bruise. He shrugged her off, batting her hand away and slipping past her to sit in the seat on the far side. The place set next to Max remained empty as he took Anne's usual seat.

"Nothing," he mumbled as he sank into the chair, taking a long gulp from the glass of juice in front of him. Anne placed a plate of food in front of him and he dug into it hungrily, not looking up at all as Max studied him in detail.

What the hell had he been up to?

*~*~*~*

As the water ran over her skin, Max took in a deep breath and let it wash away everything. School, Lissa rubbing Fang in her face seemingly every time she saw them together, dating Sam to try get back at him, Anne's sudden improvement in cooking.

Yeah, that was kind of odd. Maybe she was taking classes.

Sam was obviously a bad idea from the start, so why was she dating him? Because he let her talk to her about all this stuff. The Fang and Lissa stuff, the school stuff she hated. She trusted him more than Anne by now, so he was getting the brunt of all the thoughts kicking around her head. Unlike Anne, he also gave her his opinions on stuff too.

He hated Fang. With a passion. He thought he was a womaniser and a heartbreaker, but he said he'd try help her win her back if that's what she wanted. He didn't know, or understand, why she needed him back. Those details she would never tell, she was happy for him to just believe she was hopelessly caught up on him.

She needed him. For her sanity.

Some of the other things that played on her mind she couldn't discuss even with Sam. The Voice refused to act as a psychologist and never answered her when she called for it, so all the thoughts about expiration dates appearing on their necks and the sudden lack of hot flushes, even really old stuff about their time in the School, that being the torture chamber and not the every day teen's bane of life, she couldn't talk to anyone about.

She wanted to now what he was thinking, wishing she had Angel's ability. Every time in the last week he'd shot her a glance, his eyes were cold. The only part of him that told her what went on in his head was refusing to give her anything to go on. Maybe he was as confused as she was. Maybe he didn't care.

Anne had tried to talk to him once. Max had listened from the inside of the shared bathroom. It hadn't been pretty, by any standard. Anne actually stayed really calm through the whole thing too, whereas Fang seemed to loose it very slowly if her incessant nagging until he shouted at her to leave in less than pleasant language.

Max was sure she heard him crying after that, but he wouldn't cry, would he?

No. He was Fang, he didn't cry. Max had jumped out the window and gone for a fly, to clear her head, to try blow the tears from her eyes. She was angry, confused, concerned. The only thing running through her head was to get away from her life.

That's when it happened. The hot flush returned, all through her body in a rush, and barely a second later she was souring through the sky at high speed, everything around he and below her a blur. When she finally did come to a halt, everything was just blown away. Her fears, her worries, the slight state of madness trying to creep into her head, it was all irrelevant.

She'd discovered a new ability. And it was _awesome_.

Since then there'd been no more flushes, no more restless nights. It was nice, to be able to curl beneath the covers. Problem was she still didn't sleep, she still tossed and turned.

And there was no Fang curled up with her.

He'd been staying around Lissa at lunch and break times, sitting next to one of Lissa's friends in their joint classes. It tore at Max's heart that he hadn't said anything, but at the same time she had no idea what she expected him to say. She had no idea what she'd say if she approached him, so kept clear as well. Nowadays, he spent all of his time flying God knows where or on the laptop Anne had bough him.

She wanted to throw it out a window and shout at him.

It was the night before the dance. Max had been dragged to every store within a twenty mile radius to look for a dress, along with Fang trying to find a tuxedo. Fang in a tuxedo, that was a sight Max really didn't want to miss. Even if he still wasn't talking to her.

She herself had a long, emerald green dress hanging on her wardrobe door. It cut off about her mid calves and flowed like water when she moved. Anne being FBI, it was a really expensive material. A band of glittery black beads went around the waist, meeting in the middle at a thin silver diamond shaped pattern of beads. The neckline fell lower than Max was completely comfortable with, but she had to admit Anne had a good eye with dressed. On her chair lay a black cardigan to cover her wings. Wasn't taking that off at the dance.

Considering Fang was going with Lissa, she'd decided to go with Sam, so she wasn't going alone. Turning the shower off and stepping out, Max wrapped herself in the towel and unlocked the bathroom doors before stepping out of the steamy room and into her cool bedroom.

She still missed seeing Fang asleep on the bed.

With sad eyes she noted it was made. No indents where Fang had been lounging on it to look at those papers, no dents in the pillow where he'd grabbed a quick nap. He hadn't even been in her room since that day. Max sighed, letting her eyes wander over the empty bed once more. That's when she saw it. Folded paper on her pillow.

Creasing her brow, Max wandered over and perched on the side of the bed, holding the towel together with one hand as she picked up the papers with the other. There were two sets. One was A5 paper and folded together, the other was on a piece of A4 paper and folded much tighter between the other pages. Putting the A4 piece aside for a second, she flicked the A5 papers open better.

Fang's scrawly handwriting was easy to recognise. He never had good penmanship, neither did Max, the School hadn't even taught them how to write. That was Jeb's doing, along with reading. Taking a deep breath, Max began reading.

* * *

_A LETTER TO SOMEONE I CARE ABOUT_

_It's impossible for me to write this letter to a single person. The have been too many people in my life that I care about to choose a single one, people I never really told how I felt about them. It wasn't in my nature to talk about this kind of stuff yet, now they're gone, I wish they could come back for a few seconds so I could tell them what I really mean._

_This letter is dedicated to my Flock. My family. The people who I cared about as much as they cared about me, whether it was unspoken or not. It's for them and Max, with who I live with now. We keep each other strong, we have to, because otherwise we couldn't complete what we started._

_We couldn't save the world._

Max took a shaky breath. Shame they didn't seem to need each other that much any more. The world was probably going to descend into a fiery apocalypse before the semester was out. She stroked the page absently, like it was a piece of the Fang she used to know. Those first few paragraphs about summed everything else up, but she carried on reading anyway. He never told her about his feelings on the Flock either, and she was supposed to read it. He left it on her pillow, after all. Each member of the Flock was listed on a different page, with a title above them in caps.

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_IGGY._

_I may be Max's right wing man, but you were certainly her left. She never once took you for granted, because she knew if she did you'd stop being so useful. You could be such an ass though, playing on your blindness when we all knew you could 'see' better than the rest of us. Those ears of yours were unmatched across every state in America. Yeah, I actually know there are states now. School, right? _

_Though seriously man, miss everything that you did. Food has never been the same since you left. It was a nice way to survive. Really. Now that's all it is, survival, because Max and the woman we live with cant cook for crap. I miss the mischief that drove Max up the wall, yet she adored you for. She's never getting that Mickey mouse clock back now, but Im sure it made a heck of a bomb timer. Priceless, wish I could have been there._

_You were the rationalisation behind my thought when I was confused or angry, and you were the humerous voice in even the most difficult situation. You taught me how to pick locks, make small explosives and see though that stupid façade of Max's without having to study her too deeply. I even miss describing beach bunnies to you, even if Max used to slap me for it. She really didn't understand hormones. I cannot thank you enough for all that you did for us, Igs. It's not the same without you..

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_NUDGE. _

_How can I put this. Did you ever think that talking so much was a good thing? Seriously, I swear you pierced my ear drum a couple of times by talking into it so much. I always told you it was going to kill me some day, having to listen to you. Though now you're gone I miss the constant voice asking Max when we're stopping for food. She may have seemed annoyed with you, but it reminded us we had to eat too, kiddo. _

_You weren't really that young. The in between age were you wanted to be a leader and help out Max but she still saw you as her baby. She loved you as much as she loved every other kid in the flock, even if you were a bit of a handful sometimes. I never really gathered why you cared so much about your appearance, or about clothes and fashion. I'll never understand how you stayed up to date when we rarely ever stopped anywhere, let alone let you buy magazines._

_You were out reality principle, even if we had to listen for thirty minutes to hear the important part of what you were tying to say. You had good ideas, a talent for understanding both me and Max, despite how different we are, and I enjoyed our time alone with the hawks. Just you and me, it was a blast. We miss you and your nattering dearly, Nudge.

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_GASMAN. _

_We never really bonded that well, did we Gas? I cant really write about anything specific about you, I can only spew off the facts that's probably put into your case file. You were one of the kids, Max's little kids. I should have gotten to know you a little better on hindsight, but the age gap and attitude differences made that a canyon to cross. One I wasn't sure how to._

_Igs set you straight though, if making bombs is a straight path to take. Max was so peeved when she found out he was teaching you to make bombs. Her little golden boy, blowing stuff up, the look on her face was priceless when you blew up that vase. Even if she shouted at you, remember she loved you. She was just worried you were going to blow your hand off._

_Speaking of blowing off, no offence, but that's something I Do. Not. Miss. Could always tell whe you'd had beans for dinner, because the rest of us would be looking for a gas mask, or watching Iggy pretend to asphyxiate. With that and your little voice trick, you went from golden boy to little monster in a matter of years. It was fun Gasman. Wish you were still here.

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_ANGEL. _

_My darling, adorable, scary little angel. You know exactly how I felt about everyone in the Flock, simply because I didn't have a choice about hiding I from you. I mean, mind reading, wow, they really gave you the best genetics from the whole Flock. I wish you could have grown up and seen your powers develop. I bet a lit more were on their way._

_You would have made a fantastic teenager to deal with, you know? With the mind control and everything Max would have had a whale of a time trying to keep you in line. It would have been good for a laugh, it really would. Though I'm sure I would have been subjected to the rule bending myself. We probably could find a way to block it with practice though._

_Max was so broken hearted when you were taken. She still beats herself up about not saving you, even if it wasn't her fault she blames herself. Just know she really tried to save you, Ange. She really did. She went dead quiet the day you were taken away. It was the first day I saw her really __cry__. Not a few frustrated tears or a little over-spew of emotion, she cried silently for hours in that lab. We miss your scariness, Angel._

_I miss you all._

_Fang.

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_

Max put all the papers back in the right order and stared at Iggy's, letting her thoughts tumble over. He hadn't included her in the list. Maybe because she wasn't dead, or maybe he was already having second thoughts about her at the time. Small tears pricked the corners of her eyes, but not I sorrow. She had a small smile on her face, a slightly goofy, happy smile.

He was so silly. Of course they knew he cared, that we was there to stay. He may have been quiet, be he would have done anything for his Flock with or without her there to keep him with him. She folded the papers back over and placed them on the bedside table, sitting back for a few seconds and just processing what she'd read.

Then she remembered the other piece of paper. The A4 sheet that had been folded in with them. Turning on the spot, she scanned he bed until she saw it, placed neatly on her pillow where the whole pile had been to begin with. Reaching out, she picked it up and opened it in her lap. Her breath caught as she read the first word.

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_MAX._

_I didn't include you in the letter we had to write in class. It wasn't because I forgot you, or didn't care, it was because I was pretty sure you knew how I felt about you, what I would do for you. With all the things we've discussed since the kids left, I thought I'd be able to tell you how I felt, no matter what the circumstances. _

_Can you relate? I hope you can. I found that I had so much I wanted to say, but not the words to say it. It became so frustrating, and every day that passed it became harder and harder to even look you in the eye, let alone get my feelings across to you by opening my mouth._

_Last week was one huge mistake after another. It sounds like a lame excuse, and it is, but I didn't kiss Lissa. She kissed me. I had plenty of opportunity to push her away, to tell her to get lost, and I should have done. Problem was I was afraid of hurting her physically. I can break someone's rib with a single punch, who knows what I might accidentaly do to a teenage girl if I push her off._

_I didn't kiss her back. I didn't hold her. It felt wrong that it wasn't you I was kissing, that I was kissing another girl. The whole time I was thinking about you, blocking out the girl pressing herself to me. I wanted you there to pull her off and slap her, to call me yours._

_Now I sound soft._

_That's I heard your voice call to Sam, and suddenly, pushing her away because easy. It didn't matter to me if I dislocated her shoulder doing so, or broke a bone, because she didn't matter. All that mattered to me was you. I didn't want you to see me breaking my promise, the promise I still hold close to my heart. I will never leave you, for anything._

_I'd like to add to that no one will ever replace you either._

_When I saw you kissing Sam I was angry. But I wasn't angry at you. I was angry at myself for letting Lissa kiss me. For not coming out and saying it to you the seconds before Lissa shot out of the bathroom. I should have said in front of her at lunch, shown her I was serious about you, that I didn't like her, but I didn't._

_I can bring down armies of erasers, stand up to sicko scientists, kill to keep you alive._

_Admit my feelings? That seems to be a step too far._

_I left because I couldn't control how I would react. I was afraid of hurting Sam, or scaring you, neither of which I wanted to achieve. I needed space to think, to process everything, yet I definitely didn't find it when Ari found me in the tree I took refuge in. Taking a week to really process it wasn't in the original plan, but I couldn't find the words for you._

_I've told Lissa I'm not interested, and that I'm not taking her to this dance. I'll probably spend the night at home, feel free to go with Sam, I don't mind. He makes you happy, I'm sure. I've seen you smile when your with him, even when you don't know I'm watching, when I see you across the cafeteria. I wish I could still make you smile like that._

_I screwed up big time, right?_

_I love you._

_F-Nick._


	14. Max's Reply

**Alrightly peoples, here's the next update. I wrote this last night, on top of the previous chapter, a) because the bunnies in my head were going 'do this do this do this!' and b) I had work at 7am this morning and thought my brain might be fried by the time I got home. which it isn't, surprisingly, for an 8hr shift. Fun in a bun. So, if you liked the letter because it was all soft and sweet, this chappy is a mushfest. You have been warned.**

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**Strawberry Shortcake: Thats because i seriously dont have a life outside of my computer. No, wait, I do on Fridays. Other than that, work or free time. Having a bf well away from me does that .-. but yeah, thanks for keeping up the comments =3 and thanks, I try to update as often as I can ^^**

**Crazy: Hehe, posted that second before before you read the one before. Sorry about thats, but I didnt wanna forget =P And...its because..._I'm really Mr. Patterson in disguise!_ ...No...I'm not...dang it, I wanna be a famous writer DX But yeah, I try and keep in character as much as possible, and that seemed more Fang than cornering her and talking. Cheers for reviewing both even though you had to read two of them =3**

**Racer: Thankyees ^^ Good to see you like it =3 Thanks a bunch for the review**

**luh-ver4ever: Hehe, I would say I'd steal him first, but the boyfriend wouldnt take it too kindly. Plus he's gorgeous anyway, so I dun need Fang =3 But you'll have to read and see if you can kidnap him =P**

**Eyeliner-Vampire: I love the name, btw ^^ and thanks ^^; ~blushing like heck~ i try.**

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**Part 13**

Max pulled the dress over her head and smoothed out the floaty material, doing a half twirl as she checked the dress was hanging correctly everywhere before zipping it up. It was really pretty. Shame she wasn't one for wearing dresses, or she'd probably wear it again. The straps were quite chunky, covering a large portion of her shoulders. The diamond of silver jewels went from her mid stomach right up to where the dress cut, the black line pulling the material in at her waist.

She looked like a _girl._

Pulling her wings in tight, Max pulled the cardigan on and did up the tie belt around her waist, where the bottom hung. Pulling her hair over the material, still just sweeping her shoulders, Max managed a half smile at herself in the mirror. It looked like Nudge had given her a make over.

Since the letter last night, Max had thought about the kids a lot more than she had for a while. Sadness tinged at the memories, but at the same time so many good ones floated to the surface as she read Fang's words, the papers were now a treasure to her.

Fang. She still hadn't spoken to him since he gave her the letters, though they shared a longer than usual glance this morning. Max had tried to smile at him, but she failed. It probably looked like she was choking on her breakfast rather than trying to reassure him she still cared. She touched the necklace handing just below her collarbone, sliding her fingers over its smooth surface.

Emotions were so friggen hard.

That's why she had waited until Anne had gone back downstairs before finishing up. She went to see if Fang was sure about not going to the dance, which Max was pretty sure he wouldn't change his mind for Anne. He didn't see her as a mother, but as a food provider. He wanted to leave as much as she did.

Slipping on her ridiculously high black heels, Max tacked across the joint bathroom and peeked into Fang's room. He wasn't there, still at dinner. Her heels now insulated by the carpet, she silently stepped over to his bedside table to where his laptop was. This was the best place after all, the most likely place he would look after she was gone.

Now she just had to pray he did.

In the dining room, Fang was picking at his dinner. Some pasta thing with white sauce and bits of bacon, he'd already eaten all of the bacon and was picking at the nearly cold pasta, thinking. He'd poured his heart into the letter he left her yesterday, and yet she hadn't said a word about it all day. He wasn't sure how he expected her to act, but she was still going to the dance. She still hadn't spoken to him in over a week, and she was still going to the dance Sam.

To say the least, he was peeved.

_Maybe she didn't bother to read it…_ Fang found another piece of bacon and ate it, searching through the pool of sauce for any more. He wouldn't blame her for not reading it, after all that happened last week, but he really hoped she did. Though it looked like she hadn't bothered to.

"Do you want to see Max off, Nick?" Anne was standing in the doorway, car keys in her hand as she watched him turning his pasta over again and again. He speared a few lukewarm pieces and shoved them in his mouth, chewing slowly as he shook his head.

Anne sighed slightly. They'd had such a strong connection until all that stuff happening at school. Fang had withdrawn into himself, Max was almost an emotional wreck, though thankfully taking to her or Sam seemed to have done her a world of good. She looked up as she heard careful stepping on the stairs. Max wasn't used to heels yet, hopefully she wouldn't fall over at the dance.

Max took a quick peek into the dining room, watching Fang turn a pasta laden fork over in his fingers, glaring at it critically. She looked at Anne, who mouthed 'are you ready to go?'. Max took one last look at the back of her best friend's head and nodded slowly, walking awkwardly back into the hall.

Fang heard the two mumble something as the door slammed shut, then there was silence. He shoved another forkful of pasta in his mouth and grimaced. It was stone cold. Pushing his plate away he rested his elbows on the table, rubbing his temples. He used to like the time alone he got away from the kids, now he hated it.

Feeling alone for the last week caused changes like that.

Lissa had a lot more pull on the general student body than you might guess at first glance. He'd been receiving calls all day, after he dumped her last night, from her friends and their friends shouting abuse at him. It got to the point where Anne was just putting the phone down when anyone asked for him. It was ridiculous, but he didn't have any friends to miss calls from, so it made a little sense to not bother with them at all.

Sighing, he pushed his chair away from the table and got to his feet, heading up the stairs two at a time. He had all evening to kill, might as well check his blog and make a post. He hadn't seen the dress Max was going to wear, the idea of Max in a dress itself was quite humorous, but she did look beautiful in anything. Not that he'd post that, in case she read it.

It hit him then and there she didn't even _know_ about his blog yet. Whoops, missed that out of the letter.

Closing his door behind him, Fang flopped onto his bed and pulled the laptop off the bedside table onto his lap. He swept his fingers over the sleek lid of his only contact with people for the last day. They'd had the day off to 'prepare for the dance'. Meant the school needed all their resources to get the venue, somewhere across town, set up in time.

Was a big place, Anne drove past it when they went to buy clothes. Like a giant glass gazebo with a bar and stuff, could easily fit their whole year in, plus a few more. Fang looked up the at black tuxedo hanging on his wardrobe. The black bow tie, a cheat's one already done up attached to black elastic, gangling off the coat hanger and over the white shirt below it.

It cost Anne a fortune. It was a shame he wasn't going to be wearing it.

He flipped the laptop screen open and clicked the on switch, but I felt odd. Looking down as the screen loaded, he noted it was probably caused by the piece of folded paper laying across it. He raised an eyebrow and picked it up, unfolding it carefully, like it was made of glass. He was met with Max's handwriting, which had him reading straight away.

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_Fang,_

_I can relate._

_This last week I kept snatching glances at you, hoping to catch your eye. I wanted to pull you aside and talk to you, try and figure out what really was going on in your head. You never look happy any more, you never smile or even slightly smirk. It drains my own happiness away._

_Every time I caught you looking at me, your eyes were blank. No emotions showed through at all before you turned away, like I was looking at a brick wall. More defences thrown up against the outside world, more walls and shields against pain._

_Just seeing the barriers back up makes me worry about you. I cant stand it._

_When Sam told me what he saw, he said he saw you with Lissa attached to you, pressed right up against you as you kissed in the corridor. I should have twigged then and there you were ambushed by the girl, since if you were cheating on me you wouldn't be stupid enough to do it in plain sight of anyone who might spread word._

_That and you have more taste than Lissa. After all, you chose me before her._

_I was so confused, so hurt. I didn't get the chance to pump him for details before I saw you heading for me down the corridor, the smile I love plastered on your face. In my current state, I know it's the smile reserve for me. At the time, I thought you were pleased with yourself about something, and Sam just telling me about Lissa did little for my rational side._

_Snap decisions seem to be my downfall don't they? Saving Ella sacrificed the rest of the Flock, in the end. This time, it made me lose my relationship with the last person I truly care about. I was angry at you, upset. My mind could think of nothing but making you feel it too. That's why I kissed Sam, he did it because I asked him to._

_I regretted it the second he kissed back._

_It felt wrong, to be kissing someone other than you. I don't know why. Its not like normal people didn't seem to kiss a lot of people like that in their lifetime, like on TV. But it felt like I was betraying you, I felt awful. And then you ran._

_Oh God I ran after you. I ran so fast, but I had no chance of catching up with you really. I didn't know what I expected to say to you, what I expected back. Maybe my drama queen brain wanted to just jump you and kiss you, so the world would erupt in happy music and we'd tell each other we loved each other, melting into a happy ever after._

_Anne tells me that's a sign of watching too much TV. Maximum Ride, a TV junkie. Who would have thought it?_

_In your letter, you take responsibility for virtually everything. It takes two people not communicating for silence, right? It was as much my fault as yours, if not more mine for over reacting without hearing all the facts. _

_I called Sam today, finally got the details of your encounter with Lissa out of him. He said you looked surprised when he saw you kissing, that you didn't have your arms around her, weren't even touching her. _

_I see that it really wasn't what it looked like, even Sam agrees with me. He's sorry, Fang. He wanted to tell you personally at the dance, but I told him you wont be there. Oh. Something cool: I found I have a new power, those hot flushed were the power developing. I can fly really fast now, much faster than you even. _

_Maybe we should race sometime, so I can kick your butt at it._

_Also, on the dance, I'm going on my own. I might meet Sam there, we might share a dance, but he's not my date. I wanted to go alone, to just attack the free buffet and have a night away from the stress and strain of the last week. You know, let my hair down and forget, so to speak._

_I understand if you don't want me back after what happened, but I wont abandon you. I love you. Even if I have to lose you, I want to help you to find somewhere you belong. Help you find your family, make sure you're safe and happy before we split._

_Don't wait up._

_Max.

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As he finished reading, the door front door opened and was pushed shut again. Anne was back from taking Max to the venue, probably ready to settle down to some TV, after washing up his dinner stuff. She never checked up on him anymore, having given up trying tot talk to him after he cursed her out of his room. It had been harsh, but he didn't respect her at all, let alone want to pour his heart out to her.

Fang glanced from his door, as he heard the tap in the kitchen sink start, to the tuxedo hanging on his wardrobe. Then to the letter in his hand. He'd been holding it so tightly the paper was creased under his fingers. He loosened his grip, folding the paper up carefully and placing it on his bedside table, flipping his laptop shut just as the screen finished loading.

He swung his legs off the bed and grabbed the tux off the wardrobe, striding over to his bedroom door and pulling it open a crack. He could ear dishes being cleaned, scrubbed of the sickly sauce the pasta had been caked in. He yelled out, and silence filled the house before he was rewarded with a positive acknowledgement. The tap stopped running as Anne muttered under her breath. Smiling to himself, he and tux entered the bathroom and locked the door.

Don't wait up, indeed.

*~*~*~*

Max floated on the edge of the dance floor, sipping the cup of punch Sam had gotten for her after their promised dance. Lissa had stood glaring at them the whole time, annoyed her date was dancing with the girl she really wasn't that fond of, let alone just the act of dancing with another girl on its own.

He was back on the dance floor now, doing the awkward teenage dancing all the others were doing to the upbeat music. It seemed out of place stuff for a dance, but she guessed it was the kind of stuff they liked.

Couldn't go wrong with that.

A few guys offered to dance with her for the sparse slow dances that popped up, but she politely declined. She wasn't much of a dancer, let alone trusting people she barely knew to dance so closely with her. Of course, they could all be under the assumption she was now a free girl, since she'd broken up with Sam. She certainly wasn't a free girl, at least, she hoped after the note she left, she wasn't.

Downing the last of her drink, Max meandered her way through the crowds of swaying teens to the buffet table and punch bowl. Dropping the empty cup in the black sack she set about attacking the cocktail sausages, eating away her discomfort.

Maybe she'd just go home early and watch some TV with Anne. The uncomfortable silence was way more bearable than the music-coated awkwardness of a social situation. Showing a few other sausages into her mouth and turning to get a fresh cup, she shuffled over to the punch bowl and lifted the ladle.

It was then she became acutely aware of the silence.

"We've had a slow dance request folks, find your partners and get ready to swaaaay!" The DJ's voice sounded incredibly distorted in the microphone, but Max cringed at the kind of song. Slow dance. It was one of those where everyone could see who was here on their own. Public embarrassment at its finest for teenagers, this was her firth time tonight.

As the song started, the hairs on the back of her neck stood to attention.

"Can I have this dance?" Max blinked, shuddering as the hairs slowly relaxed again. She _knew_ that voice, and it wasn't Sam. Placing the still empty cup down on the table and replacing the ladle, Max turned very slowly on the spot, and instantly got the feeling she wasn't really awake, but in a dream.

Fang.

He had his hand held out to her, his small, heart melting smile turning up the side of his mouth. He was wearing the black tuxedo and tie that had been hanging in his room, matching black trousers coupled with a white shirt on his skinny figure. He looked _adorable, _but she didn't say a word, unsure how to really react. Instead, she mimicked his small smile as she placed her hand in his.

His smile widened as he swept her onto the dance floor, finding a space amongst the swaying teens before catching her eyes again. Finally, Max could see his emotions, relief flooded his eyes, floating in front of the happiness she was finally glad to see him feeling again. She felt his arm snake around her waist, another round her shoulders as he pulled her tight to him, resting his healed, slightly scarred eraser-slashed cheek on her head.

Max didn't need any encouragement to wrap her arms around his middle, resting her head in his neck as they swayed to the music. It wasn't any dance an expert would recognise, but to them it was perfect. They swayed slightly in their happy hug, slowly tuning in a circle as the other teens attempted to pull off real slow dances, but neither bird kid noticed anything outside of their very own bliss bubble.

"I missed you," Fang mumbled softly into her hair, tightening his arm around her as his other rubbed between her wings, through her cardigan. Max nuzzled right into his chest, gently stroking his back as they swayed.

All of their worries and concerns, uncertainties of how the other felt about one another, melted in the three minutes and twenty three seconds of that one song. Nothing mattered, not Lissa or Sam, school or crank calls, Anne or the School. Nothing interfered as they just enjoying finally being close once again.

As the song wound down, the chorus playing softer and slower in the background, Fang lifted his head from Max's hair and trailed the hand around her shoulders up to her face, gently stroking her cheek before lifting her chin, meeting her eyes. She looked happier than he could ever remember, the smile she'd worn when she took his hand wider than it had been before.

"I love you," she whispered, making his own smile widen to match hers. He stroked her cheek with his rough thumb, dipping his head until his lips were just inches apart, his breath mingling with hers. They held eye contact for a few long seconds, ignoring the fact the song had ended, moving on to something much more up tempo.

In their world, the slow dance was waiting for them to _tell_ it when to end.

"I love you too, Max." Then he closed the distance between them, pulling her tight to him as he pressed his lips to hers. She didn't hesitate to respond, her eyes fluttering shut as she tightening her own arms around him. Their lips moved together, soft and slow, rekindling all the effort they'd put into their relationship before it was torn apart. Max brought an arm up around his neck, lifting her heels very slightly off the floor to make her almost completely level with him, making it easier. Fang tilted his head to the side, kissing her deeper, savouring the taste he missed so dearly as his arm wound back round her shoulders.

Finally, they broke apart, breathing fast to replace used oxygen , their cheeks a slight pink from the lack of air and a small blush. They smiled goofily at each other, still holding each other tight as they swayed to their own slow song, ignoring the Nickleback playing happily in the background. It was a perfect moment. It struck Max's negative brain as _too perfect._

_It was then an eraser broke through the window, and all hell broke loose._


	15. A Blood Soaked Farewell

**Aaaaaaah! I've never written a proper fight scene before, just kind of...glazed over them. This one has a proper fight sequence and everything, at least, hopefully its like a proper fight scene and everything. Either way, here's the next chapter, rocking and raring to go. Tomorrow's might be a little late, as I usually write these the evenings before they're posted, re read them a few hundreds time, upload them, add this here AN and _then_ reread it again.**

**However, tonight I'm working til silly oclock. Isnt having a job grand?**

**Uh...there was something else I wanted to say about this chapter, but I cant remember what it was...oh. I'm sorry? I might be, I dunno, might wanna read and see if you agree with me there. Apology might not be needed in some of your eyes. I unno. My twisted brain told me to say the word.**

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**I wanna say this part first: Holy flying cows on wheat buns. Seven reviews for one chapter. That's....wow. Most i've gotten on any story I've posted _anywhere._ I love you all, seriously =3 you make me smiiiiiiiile ^^ and my fingers are much happier to type for me when I'm happeh.  
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**Strawberry Shortcake: I tried to make it sweet without 'omg im gunna hurl x.x' sickliness. I hope I got it right.**

**Moonlight Shadows: One update for you. Hope you like fight scenes.**

**luh-ver4ever: Glad you still love it =3 and thats what erasers are there for. I thought about them breaking in _before_ they kissed, but that seemed too mean, after what they just got through anyway.**

**bookworminpeace: hehe, bookworm. I'm sorry to say the Flock are...uh... 'decomissioned', in this fic. My friend who tries to co write this with my by throwing ideas in when she asks where i'm at now was gunning for thm to be alive too. Problem is, even though I dont plan these things out, I just write them day by day, it contradicts what I _want_ to happen at the end of it, when I wrap the story up in the far future. I can always write an alternate afterwards, if enough people asked for it =P**

**eyeliner vampire: Whoa. Steady there. _How _may reviews? XD Thanks a lot for commenting where something made you laugh and stuff, its good to hear what people think of the chapters after they're in the past. I'm gunna put the chapter you commented in brackets, followed by my reaction: **

**(14) I made you cry? oO' thats a first for my writing, though I havent written many squishy scenes, just one on the end of an original story that had my friend in tears. hehe, good come back =P shows you've read the book waaaay too much. I love that Idea though, shame I didnt think of it when I wasn't sure how to get past the Lissa stuff. As I was writing it a dance came to mind, followed by the scene below, so you got that. lol. And you wont have to spam me =P I usually update daily, unless I have writers block in my free time. Though going to Aussie in september so they might be more spaced out when there.**

**(1) As previously stated, in this version the flock are all out of the picture. If enough people wnated it, I'd make an alternate ending on top of what I have planned, after the fall of Itexicon when the wold is trying to get back to normal. I love idea two though...the brainwashed thing, though the wings would be difficult to uh...brainwash out of them, so to speak. Unless they had surgery to sew up the wing slits and medication to keep their wings numb. Kinda farfetch'd? Anyone had any ideas on that one, let me know. And let me know what three is =P**

**(3) The titles are the bain of my life, because I have no imagination with short, snipy things XD But they end up ok in the end. And thats because he loves her, and she's the leader o'course ;D**

**(10) Yeah, that was a writer's block moment spewing up a little side idea my brain had beforehand =P I didnt really think it was that good, but I felt bad not updating. and thanks ^^; I do try to improve my writing, thats why I write fan fiction.**

**Phew. Blimey. My fingers hurt already.**

**LE Trex: Yush, I'm not american. I basically edit the words I've found confuse my american friends, like term = semester. Others people understand, like trousers and toilet, so I leave them be. Actually sounds published? Seriously? ...that just made my day. =D**

**Crazy: Heh, i cant spell for toffee, and rely solely on my spell checker when typing these things. As for mispellings that are more the wrong word, thats because it is. I type to fast but cant look at the screen while im doing it, and my brain skims over them when I reread the stories XD Good old brain. And all hell breaking loose makes the following chappie =3**

**Wow. Guys. Again, thank you so much for all the reviews, pointing out stuff like my interesting britican writing style because im trying not to confuse people. That failed, didnt it? XD Cheers dudes, please keep reading and reviewing =3 It feels great to come home to an inbox full of review, fave and alert emails.  
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**Part 14**

Windows broke all around the giant gazebo as erasers swarmed the building, people holding up arms and coats to shield their faces from the shards. Small screams punctured the air as a girl's eye got sliced. She dropped to the floor with her date following suit straight after, checking her over and holding her tight to him before looking up wide-eyed like a rabbit caught in headlights.

Fang, holding Max very slightly tighter to him, swiveled his eyes to watch every eraser come through a window. One by one they encircled him and Max, as well as the rest of the party. Not that they were important to their mission, but of course the party goers didn't know that.

"On three." It was whispered into his chest, almost inaudible, but Fang caught it. He breathed an acknowledgment in her ear, pretending to look bemused like the rest of the attendants more for fun than anything else. He had nothing to fear. They'd gotten out of tougher scrapes than this before, and this would be the same.

Max did a quick count up of the windows that broke, unable to see since Fang was pressing her harder into his chest. She'd caught ten. Averaging two erasers per window, at the worst, it would be twenty to two. Not very good odds, but they could easy get outside and make a run for it. Not every fight was made to be won.

_**Good thinking, Max.**_

_Duh_, she thought back irritated, trying and failing to plan an escape route when all she could see was Fang's shirt, or his bow tie if she really strained her neck. _This is _me_ we're talking about._

There was a silence. It lasted a few long, long seconds as the teenagers and erasers studied each other. The wolf men licked their lips hungrily, one of them growling, waiting for the game to begin. The adolescents stared wide eyed as they noted the sharp fangs, the flexing claws ready to rip into flesh, the morphing muzzle of the last eraser to enter the room.

Someone gasped, then a single student screamed. It didn't take long for the others to follow suit.

Now the venue had erupted into chaos, teens running left right and centre to exit the building as erasers stormed forwards, smacking buffet tables and chairs out of their way as they made their way towards their prize. Fang locked eyes with the closest eraser, waiting for the command to move, his arms already loosening around Max's body.

"One."

The couple sprang apart and quickly positioned themselves back to back, Max finally getting a good idea of what she was coping with here. Towering over the fleeing teenagers, the Erasers were easy enough to pick up. With their wolfish faces and general grossness setting them aside from even the grungiest adolescent.

Getting into a fighting stance, she did a quick tally up of the erasers on her side. Seven. That was better than expected, the School underestimated them. She glare at the one closest to her, all of them advancing on her and Fang as fast as the constant stream of terrified kids would let them.

The escape idea was a dead loss. Looks like it was fight for their lives time.

_Wait for it…_ Her muscles twitched to throw a punch, but acting too fast could cost her the fight. Considering she and Fang had only just made up, that wasn't even an option, or in the suggestions bin.

Even if it was, it would be going through the shredder.

"Here little birdy," the Eraser cooed, the gruff undertone of his voice getting darker with every word. Max frowned, itching to spread her wings and kick him in the head. Behind her she could feel Fang's back tense, just millimetres from her own as they held their ground Zero.

He wasn't having such a 'good' time. In fact, he was cursing the previous over confidence he'd mentally exhibited. She may have had less than she'd predicted to deal with, but Fang had twelve growling wolf men eying him, all of whom seemed to be drooling as the idea of ripping his throat out. They had one chance to make this work, one change to get away and survive. It would be down to the millisecond as to whether their attack worked or not.

Just as an Eraser charged at him, Fang threw a kick at the monster, catching it in the jaw and send it flying to the side with a thump. The second wasn't giving him time to recover as it slashed at his face, catching him across his scar and tearing his skin open. Fang stumbled slightly at the sudden pain and growled, literally throwing himself at the cackling creature, rugby tackling him into the Eraser behind him.

Max dodged a few punches and took one at an Eraser herself. One was already down, whimpering as it exited the building through a broken window. Busted arms had that effect on you. The Eraser dodged easily, faster than Max expected it to, and got punched in the rib. Hard. She flew a few feet and slid a few more on the cold floor, stopping inches from impaling her head on a chair leg.

The next Eraser to charge her wasn't so lucky. There _was_ a use for heels after all.

Max kicked off her remaining shoe as she shuffled away from the screaming Eraser, pulling herself nimbly to her feet before jumping back into the fray. She took a few seconds after winding an eraser to look over at Fang, noting he was fighting three of the damn animals off at once. Cursing under her breath she threw herself into her own monsters, a new fire helping her focus.

Fang took a punch to the eye and fell back on his behind, smacking his head on a fallen table behind him. His mind dizzied, he couldn't do anything but try and blink it off, focus on the creature reaching for his neck. He felt a whine in his throat that wasn't voiced, stumbling backwards to get to his feet while his neck was still in one piece. His feet slipped on the shiny floor as panic began coursing through his veins.

The Eraser suddenly stopped mid movement, blinking stupidly. Fang pulled himself to his feet using the table that assaulted him, his eyes slowly focusing on the Eraser as it span round. Behind it was Sam, holding a chair leg, blood spattered on the end where it had collided with the Eraser's arm. He nodded once to Fang, a small smile on his face before he put all of his might into hitting the Eraser again, but the impact did nothing to stop it advancing on him.

Fang knew it wouldn't. Which was why he chopped its shoulder, where its neck joined the rest of its grotesque body, followed by a swift kick to the ribs. The eraser stumbled, blinking stupidly. Fang kicked it in exactly the same place again before aiming a particularly hard punch there.

**CRACK**.

The eraser cried out and crumpled, holding its side pathetically. He caught Sam's eye, his breath heavy from exerting himself, his eye beginning to swell. Sam seemed slightly scared, shocked, his mouth set in an 'o' as he held the metal chair leg by his side. Fang let a half smile touch his lips, returning Sam's previous nod.

"Guys!" Both their heads whipped round to Max as she dealt a roundhouse kick, barefoot, to an Eraser. She tried to ignore the intense stinging in her foot as she rebalanced herself. She waved her arms exasperatedly in her few seconds of peace and quiet. Three Erasers down and four to go on her end.

"Male bonding another time. Mutant butt kicking now!" She swung round to meet the Eraser creeping up behind her with a punch to the jaw, drawing blood from its horrid mouth. Kneeing it in the stomach for good measure, Max moved to take down the next, dodging a hit to deal a blow herself.

Fang would have made a snarky comment, especially considering Sam seemed to have his eyes glued to Max as she kicked the next eraser's behind. The 'o' of his face seemed to have become a permanent feature as he watched her fight. He also seemed to have forgotten how to blink.

Fang resisted the urge to strangle him as he whipped the chair leg from his grasp. Sam blinked, turning to see him collide the metal pole with an eraser gunning for the back of Sam's head. Fang looked at the metal bar afterwards, the blood coating actually thick enough for it to drip to the floor, before holding it back out to Sam. He took it after a slightly hesitation, pulling an 'ick' face at the blood before wiping it against his trousers.

Teenage boys. Show them blood and they treat it like ketchup.

Without time to react, Fang found himself thrown over a table as two more Erasers descended on him, seemingly ignoring Sam as they focused on their target. He took a few seconds to touch the side of his pounding head, pulling a face when at the warm, sticky substance matting in his hair. Fang scrambled to his feet as the Erasers climbed over the table after him, cackling as one hit a metal pole against his palm. It had blood on it, some of the pole oddly clean that others. He twigged after a few seconds: It was the one Sam had been using.

Looking about him, he noted a foldable chair sprawled amongst the food and confetti debris scattered on the floor. He knelt down and back up swiftly, now armed with the chair as the monsters closed in on him. He put all of his energy into smacking the chair into an Erasers face, knocking him sideways and almost into the other, who jumped back just in time.

"That's gunna hurt in the morning." Fang raised the chair again, this time horizontally in both hands as the remaining eraser looked from his fallen friend to Fang. A small smirk spread across is face at the fear in the Erasers eyes.

Then he lobbed the chair like a Frisbee. That didn't have a pretty outcome.

Max smacked the heads of her last two erasers together. They fell to the floor, completely out of it as she took a breather. She didn't plan to stop long, just enough to get her bearings before charging in to help Fang with his Eraser overflow, quickly cataloguing her injuries.

Her rib hurt where she'd been punched, but it didn't feel broken, thankfully. She had a few shallow slashes on her face, a deep one in the top of her right arm that had _finally_ stopped bleeding. She was breathing heavily as her body shook, the adrenaline keeping her from feeling the aches and pains trying to surface. Looking over at Fang, she raised an eyebrow. He had no more erasers to deal with. At all.

_Wow, I must be losing my touch…_ Max began picking her way across the hairy bodies and debris littering the floor, cringing as something warm and sticky slid between her toes. Not looking down, she continued over to where Fang was. He was kneeling, just visible behind a table on its side, the bright tablecloth adoring it barely hanging on in its fallen state.

_What's he doing..?_ she kept stepping towards him, maneuvering her way around spilled food and random pieces of metal, slowly getting closer to Fang. He looked up at her, and she expected to see his smug smile, but it wasn't there. Not even a half smile. Sadness flooded his eyes, his jaw set tight as he stood and moved out of the way. She gave him a quizzical look, long and lingering. Not because he was confusing her, but because she didn't want to look around. She was scared of what she might see.

Finally she looked down, and her heart stopped.

"I closed his eyes." Fang whispered as she stared. "They…sla-" Max held up her hand, asking him to stop. She didn't want to hear the details. He complied, his jaw locking again as she knelt beside Sam's motionless body. He was the only friend she'd had outside of the flock, even if he had been in the centre of all the problems in the last week.

Fang stayed silent as she gently stroked Sam's cheek, following his jaw line with a few fingers. He looked peaceful, with his eyes closed, his arms folded down over his stomach probably also Fang's doing. Max looked him over, noting dark colouring around the boy's stomach. Fang didn't have time to stop her before she lifted Sam's arms.

She instantly wished she hadn't.

"His neck's broken," he commented quietly, keeping his distance as he watched her replace his arms, her face pale. She reached up to his neck and checked it. Sure enough, his neck was broken. At least that meant he might have had a swift death rather than bleeding out. She felt tears sting her eyes as Fang pulled her to her feet and into his chest, wrapping an arm around her middle as he stroked the back of her head with his other hand.

"We have to leave." Max let a few tears escape into his shirt, hidden from the outside world. Students who's stayed nearby were picking their way through he broken windows, past the glass, covering their mouths as they processed the carnage. It wouldn't be long before the police showed up, started asking awkward questions. Max knew she didn't want to be here in case of that _or _more Erasers turning up. After a few seconds she nodded into his shirt and pulled her face away from him, wiping her eyes on her bare arm.

Taking one last look at Sam, she held her hand out for Fang and waited for him to take it. The she lead him through the debris and out of one of the broken windows. The night was cool and refreshing, rain clouds threatening to empty their cargo any second. Around them, teenagers stared in astonishment, amazed and wondering how they two of them fought off so many monsters with so few injuries. Fang's eye had swelled up, almost shut, and a small blood trail found its way from his hairline and down his jaw. Max's dress was scratched up, diamonds missing from everywhere, the material clawed and ripped.

She'd never be able to wear it again, even if she wanted to.

The bird teens looked at each other, silently debating. With a single nod in decision, considering what all their former classmates had seen already tonight, they decided one last surprise wouldn't do them any harm. They wanted to get home. To change and get the hell out of town, before word spread about where they lived, who they were. Which meant taking the most effective form of transport.

He ignored the gaping teens as he pulled off his tux jacket, bow tie and shirt, tossing them to the ground. He still wore one of his token black undershirts. It was easier to be prepared for such occasions as this than panic when you weren't suited for the circumstances as they occur. Max didn't even have to take her cardigan off, just undo the waist tie.

In one fell swoop, Fang pulled out the full extent of his wings, watching the eyes of their peers widen further than anyone would have thought possible. Max felt Fang's hands take her by the waist and raise her up from the floor. Starting flying without a run up had never been her forte. She smiled softly at Fang over her shoulder, and he returned it, holding her gaze for just a few seconds longer before launching her into the sky.

As she felt herself slow down, Max pulled her own wings out and caught the wind, flapping to get a little more altitude as Fang jumped, his wings brushing the floor on his first down stroke as he rose after her. Below them, hundreds of teens watched with their mouths agape, unable to believe what they were seeing. The whole evening was seemingly too much for one lad as he fainted into his date's arms.

Lissa had more questions than ever but for once, didn't know what to say.

The sirens of half a dozen police cars pierced the silence as they sped towards the devastated venue. Fang watched them fly past, an oddly large gap between the third and forth cars. Zooming in with his raptor vision, Fang let out a silent sigh.

Why was he not surprised Anne was _already _in the know about the situation?

The huge gap was occupied by Anne's ridiculously large car, the blackness phasing well with the darkness of the night. The only give away was when the police sirens caught the car's body work, reflecting off it at strange angles. He took a glimpse at Max, but she'd already seen it too, her eyebrows furrowed as she watched the cars speed below them.

After a few more seconds Fang angled downwards, Max following soon after like a synchronised show. The touched down silently in front of Anne's front door under the cover of the dark. Fang reached below his undershirt and pulled out the key around his neck, taking it off and putting it into the door.

Now it was a race against time.

They grabbed their school bags from the hall and rocketed upstairs, splitting to their own rooms to empty their belongings on their beds. Then came the rushed packing of anything and everything that might be essential. A few clothes being all that really mattered in his room, Fang was soon downstairs and rummaging through the cupboards for tins.

Max packed a few clothes and her hairbrush, grabbing the bag and heading out the door. She stopped halfway, dropping the bag in the doorway and jogging back to the bed to snatch the letters Fang wrote before exiting again.

She was loading half of the pile of cans Fang had found into her bag when a car screeched to a halt outside. They exchanged a brief glance, hurriedly packing a few more cans before zipping up and shouldering their bags. A key was in the door as they shot up the stairs, headed for the balcony in Max's room.

"Max!" She wanted to vomit as she yanked open the balcony doors. That wasn't Anne's voice, it was Jeb's. As heavy footsteps ran up the steps Max lept off the balcony, unfurling her wings and taking off into the sky. Looking round, she saw Fang very close on her tail, moving his shoulders powerfully as he caught up with her.

"Max!" Jeb appeared on the balcony, his usual serene façade still pasted on as he watched his experiments fly away from him. His daughter scowled as she turned away, flapping harder and faster to maximise the distance between them.

He held the balcony as he watched them fly into the night, Fang seeming to fade into the darkness before Max was nothing but a blip in the moonlight. With Anne so close behind him, Jeb Bachelder couldn't let his face slip, let his mask crack. As much as he was supposed to stall the kids, _his _kids, he was incredibly glad they'd taken to the air before he could get close to them.

Anne bustled up beside him, hurling abuse at him as she flicked open her mobile and dialled Ari's lookout team. He was supposed to stall them until the backup arrived. The backup that was now screeching to a halt in her driveway. As she turned her back and left the room, shouting into her phone, Jeb let the tiniest of smiles play on his lips.

He hadn't expected them to get out of that last mess, but they'd fought their way out with aplomb. They were getting stronger. Closer. It was only a matter of time before they turned their sights to taking down the threat to their lives. Coincidentally, it was the same company that threatened the safety of the world. Max could save her world and the real world at the same time.

"Ari wants you." Jeb's smile fell before he turned slowly on the spot, the unreadable face set into place as he took the phone from Anne and held it to his ear. Ari was growing about something, wanting to take Max out himself, spitting Fang's name like venom. Jeb nodded away and gave his biological son the occasional, single syllable acknowledgement, but he wasn't really listening.

His 'kids' were getting so much bigger, stronger. As much as he hated playing the freaky, half caring scientist, his own life depended on it for now. All that mattered was that they were alive and free. That the last weeks events were forgotten and buried.

_Run, Max. _Jeb thought, His gaze drifting back out to the sky the only indication of what he was thinking. _Run, and don't look back._


	16. Sam's Last Moments

**I was going to include this little bit later, as a dream Fang had, but since quite a few of you were very sad Sam passed away I decided to do it not, to clear up a few loose ends regarding his death and final moments. Looks like my brain was right to make me apologise, lol. **

**This one's a short one, I dont think it even hits 1000 words, barely a page in word. But it might settle a few heads about Sam's last moments. Since he seemed to die with no closure or anything.  
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**Huge thank you for all the reviews again! Love hearing from you all, keep them coming =3 Feel free to kick me about anything you notice thats wrong or whatever.  
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**Midnight Shadow: Yeah. I wanted to bump of Lissa, personally, as she was the real pain in my story, but she struck me as the kind of person that would run away, whereas Sam had the potential to try and help. Then my fingers got carried away...**

**theghostqueen: Allo thar new reviewer =3 thank you for putting up your thoughts ^^ and thanks, was worried about writing that scene, not too good with actiony stuff, because I never write it XD**

**Crazy: It ended up running along the lines of 'bad things happen to good people', which is kind of sad, but crud like that happens in real life unfortunately =( and put that damn crystal ball down! You're hitting close to the point of this 'almost a dream now a quick jump backwards'  
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**Strawberry Shortcake: Teenage boys really _are _like that though. Least, the ones I know are XD**

**luh-ver4ever: I thought it was worth putting, after all he's so friggen mysterious in the book you want to slap him ;)**

**eyeliner vampire: no worries, always good to have reviews to reply to =3 and yeah, but he still had Anne watching him after all, that's why the last comment was made. =P and why does the british thing add to the plot? XD**

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**Part 15**

Fang raised the chair again, this time diagonally in both hands as the remaining eraser looked from his fallen friend to Fang. A small smirk spread across his face at the fear in the Erasers eyes.

Then he lobbed the chair like a Frisbee. That didn't have a pretty outcome.

He scrambled back over to where Sam had been, quickly dropping to his knees to inspect the damage. Sam was shaking, his hands already pressed firmly over the gaping wound in his stomach. Fang pressed his hands over Sam's, desperately trying to stop the bleeding, but to no avail. The sticky substance poured out through their fingers, dying Sam's shirt a deep crimson, staining his new tux jacket.

"I'm…s-sorry" Fang glanced up to see Sam holding his head very slightly off the ground. He removed one hand from his wound, already knowing deep inside it was a lost cause, and slipped it under his head, helping him keep it up. Sam's eyes were unfocused as he looked at him, he had blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"You d-do deserve her…" Fang pressed a little harder on the wound, trying in vain to stop the bleed. Sam winced slightly before continuing, his voice shaky. "T-take good care of her…"

That's when Fang let his mask drop. His face displayed every emotion running through his head to Sam could pick them out. Sam smiled very slightly through the pain, his hands pressing less on the wound as he began to run out of energy. Fang mirrored it, though it came across as a sad smile, pitying.

He didn't want Sam to die. He didn't want Max to see him dead, or in pain. He took a quick glance over the table, seeing Max with just three erasers still standing. He didn't have long to make Sam's final moments as comfortable as possible.

The wound was too deep to stop, too deep to make it to a hospital. He'd lost so much blood already the chances of survival were very small. He was going to die. Fang found himself hoping there was a heaven for the boy to go to, he deserved that much.

That's when an idea hit him.

"It's ok," Fang replied, taking his other hand from the wound to wipe away the blood trickling down Sam's face. "Its all ok. You were a good friend, Sam. You've got a place reserved in heaven, no more pain." Sam furrowed his brow slightly, as much as he could. He didn't believe in heaven and stuff, and was about to waste more of his last breaths making this point before his eyes widened.

Nick was slowly spreading a pair of dark wings in front of him. The sadness had lifted from his face, replaced by just a comforting smile, his eyes soft and caring. Even if he still had the energy to speak Sam wouldn't have got the words out. He was awestruck into silence.

"I'll make it quick," Nick's voice, quiet and gentle, seemed miles away as Sam felt his hands migrate to his neck. His smile widened very slightly as he closed his eyes, having to wait less than a second to slip painlessly into eternal slumber. He smiled because he knew it was all ok, because he'd died doing something worthwhile, and he could pass through heaven's gates knowing the girl he'd fallen head over heels for would always be safe.

Protected by her dark angel.


	17. A Nicer Goodbye

**Ok, I promise on the old and slightly white paws of my dog that this is the _last_ sad installment for a while...I think...probably. Sometimes I dunno what I'm writing until I start typing. You know what I mean, right? XD Fingers get carried away. Might not get an update tomorrow, as this was gunna be written today but I had it ready early, and I literally only just got on here.**

**It's like, 9.30pm here -w-. So, enjoy, no more tears, and await the happiness things that follow this one, then the action pacty things afterwards. Because thats whats coming. Maybe a clone...I unno yet, we'll see which way the path bends ;D

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**Midnight Shadow: Hey, people, including fictional ones, need closure before hey die. That scene can to me while i was writing the fight scene, but having it in with the first seemed a little too much all at once.**

**Racer: Thanks for the review =3 Here's another update ^^**

**luh-ver4ever: hehe, i thought so too. dun cry xP he moves on to happier things**

**Crazy: Preeeeeeeeetty coloooooooours... .**

**bookworm: hey, you comment, I'll give you a reply =) and if it gets ridiculously log again, I'll move this bit to the bottom of the story XD

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**Part 16**

Fang snuck into town the following day to get food, dropping by Lissa's house to ask for details on Samuel's funeral. After getting dates, places and times he went off into town to look for food, considering they hadn't eaten since the buffet Fang hadn't had any of anyway.

He ended up returning with a sugar doughnut and a newspaper, nothing more. Turns out one of the kids wasn't actually that shocked by the whole ordeal. In fact, he pulled out his camera, switched it over to 'video recorder', and found a quiet corner to film everything. A film when ended up on the internet that very night and was now splashed all over the papers.

**BIRD KIDS RETURN**. That's what the paper Fang brought back proclaimed in large letters on its front page. The image below it was of Max as she caught an Eraser under the chin barefoot, an angry glare plastered on her face. In the background Fang could be seen watching another flying, his hand still curled into a fist.

The kids at that school had ridiculously rich parents, as only people with more money than sense would pay to send their kids to a school that serves cardboard at lunch. That meant the pictures were from a high quality camera, and features weren't just a slightly distinguishable mass of grey. Inside pages were filled with shots of both teens dealing blows to wolf men, followed by shots of them with wings, and flying away.

You could even see the scars on their faces. There went laying low.

They split the doughnut, Fang making her take the bigger part despite him being hungrier. She was still shaking, probably not from hunger just yet, but he figured the food might help settle her nerves. Then began the waiting game.

Fang made Max sleep the whole way through the night. Whether she actually slept or just pretended to, she wasn't sure, but she needed to try at least. She fidgeted a lot, but never really spoke to him throughout the night. Besides, he couldn't have dozed off easily himself. Way too much was scrolling through his mind, keeping it active.

He'd become a killer. He had to admit he was slightly relieved when he found out Ari was alive, it lifted that rotten brick from his conscious. This was a different situation entirely. Sam was _going_ to die, no matter what happened. He'd dealt the final blow because it was the right thing to do for the poor guy.

He'd still taken someone's life.

Max stirred at about three in the morning, interrupting his ever-looping thoughts on the matter. They had nothing to eat for breakfast, and the doughnut half had definitely run its course, so they set off bright and early to try and find some food before the funeral.

They'd have to get used to dumpster diving again, and fast.

Arriving at the cemetery before the sun even rose, the couple slipped behind a tree in the distance and settled into its branches. Keeping their distance was a must considering it was just two days after the incident had occurred. They watched the sun rise over the trees on the opposite side of the graveyard, breaking over the leaf cover and spreading some light on the dreary place.

The weather struck Fang as very odd for a funeral. You expect overcast skies and rain, maybe even a thunderstorm, and at least a small amount of wind. That morning was beautiful, the sun was out and barely a handful of clouds dotted the sky as a cool breeze blew a few leaves across the grass.

A few hours later people began arriving and setting up chairs in rows. Fold out chairs, like the one Sam had used the leg of to help Fang out. Max settled onto the branch next to him, who's arm quickly found its way around her waist to pull her slightly closer to him. She had his spare shirt pulled over her own blue one, the colour more appropriate for a funeral since it was black.

He looked down at her, noting she looked tired. She definitely hadn't slept last night, and if she had it wasn't very well. Black lines underlined her eyes, dark pigments against the bridge of her nose making it look like she had black eyes. His own swollen eye was cleared up, only very slightly blue around the edges.

He picked out her sadness easily. Max wasn't one to look frail or weak, but he could understand how this may be an exception. She hadn't known him long, but he'd shown her more kindness than anyone outside of the flock ever had.

Like Jeb had. But he was lying sneeky little son of a female dog, unlike Sam, who seemed...genuine.

They watched as the place began to fill with people. All dressed in black and quietly mumbling to one another as they waited for the funeral car to arrive. The teens watched them silently fill up the chairs, numerous latecomers being forced to stand as they waited. It was a huge turn out for a teenager. Fang smiled slightly. He got the turnout he deserved.

In time the funeral car pulled up, tailed by two or three others with yet more mourners to add to the already massive number. The priest took the stand and said a few words, a couple of relatives read some passages they'd prepared, then the wooden casket was lowered into the hole.

Every mourner took the time to say a final goodbye, picking up a small amount of dirt from beside the hole and tossing it over the coffin with their last words. The whole process took about an hour and a half, all of which the teens watched from a safe distance, their raptor vision allowing them to do so, even if they couldn't hear the words being spoken.

They waited until the mourners had left before evacuating their tree, quickly making their way over to Sam's final resting place before the gravesman got to work covering him for good. Max mumbled her goodbye as she threw in her own dirt, trying to stop the tears forming in her eyes. Fang took a long, hard look at the wooden cover, almost completely covered in a single layer of dirt by now, before throwing his own dirt on silently.

He nodded to the gravesman as he pulled Max into his chest, who watched the first shovel of dirt being thrown on top of the coffin before burying her head in Fang's shirt, shuddering slightly as silent tears soaked the fabric. He rested his cheek on her head, swaying backwards and forwards gently as the coffin was slowly obscured then completely buried.

When Max was ready to go, the two flew off in search of a shop that might _not_ have seen pictures of them on the TV or paper. Turns out there were a few little garages run by foreigners who couldn't read the papers, let alone really paid that much attention.

So they bought some food with her card and retreated to the woods again.

Now Max was sat staring into the sorry excuse for a fire she and Fang had struggled to start, her brain still whirring, stopping her sleeping. She bit another lump off of the massive bar of chocolate just behind her and sucked it, letting it melt slowly in her mouth, wishing the voice would drop her into a pain related sleep just to get some.

The insomnia was showing on her face, more so than it had been already. Her limbs were shaking when she tried to hold her hand out straight. She felt slightly dizzy, sick, and her skin seemed to be getting paler and paler.

It was ridiculous. She hadn't been this much of mess since being kept in a cage.

Leaning her head back against the tree trunk, she gazed over to where Fang lay, an arm folded under his head for a pillow as he slept. To normal people, he would appear to be sleeping peacefully, his chest rising and falling in slow rhythm. Max could pick out the very slightly muscle twitches in his arms and legs. His eyebrows were probably twitching as well. All signs he was dreaming.

Sam. _That's_ what was playing on her mind. Over and over, every time she closed her eyes, the same image would come into her head. His lifeless body, still warm to touch, his face looking like he was only sleeping. Then she'd remember the dark pigmentation on his tux jacket, lifting his arm to find-

She shook the thoughts away again, repressing a shudder. Two days and the images still played on her mind. She'd seen countless erasers drop, covered in blood, and never had a nightmare about it. With Sam it was different…like the nightmares she'd had about the Flock. It actually scared the hell out of her, haunted her night and day.

Like a kind of torture.

The ever familiar sound of wings unfurling pulled Max's attention back to the present, looking round to see Fang still fast asleep. One of his wings was a couple of feet out of it's resting place, raised very slightly. His leg twitched as his free arm reached out and closed a fist around a pile of dead leaves. Then his whole body shuddered once and the wing drooped suddenly.

Half a second later he was sat upright doing a quick three sixty, wiping the hand that had closed around the leaves on his jeans. His eyes caught Max's after he finished his sweep and he smiled slightly at her. A soft half smile, reassuring, comforting. Max gave him a half hearted smile back before staring back into the fire, letting her mind run away with her again.

She felt an arm wrap around her and happily let it guide her into a rock hard shoulder. Her legs were lifted and pulled around, hung over Fang's lap as he gently stroked the back of her head. His other arm wrapped itself around her waist, holding her to him.

"Try get some sleep." It was an order, not a suggestion. A few months ago Max would have just glared at him, staying awake to spite him. Now, she actually tried to get to sleep, focusing on his arm around her, the other in her hair. She blotted out all the images of Sam to focus on his breathing as he tried to soothe her into slumber.

Forty minutes later, she was sleeping like a baby.

It was Fang's turn to stare into the fire, resting his cheek on Max's head as she breathed evenly in his lap. Of course he'd been slightly shaken by the events on Friday. He honestly believed a few times he wasn't going to get out of that giant gazebo alive, and certainly wouldn't have without Sam. It would have been him lying there with his neck broken, possibly something more painful, the rest of the erasers jumping on Max like bears on honey. She probably wouldn't have survived either, they would have been trampled.

Fang closed his eyes as he rocked Max slowly, trying to make sure she stayed asleep longer than ten minutes. He himself was tired as hell. Most of he time Max had thought he was asleep, he was staring at the backs of his eyelids, is brain whirring away under his skull. Finally, when he did get to sleep, the events came back to him in dream form, clear as day.

He'd given him a faster death, smoother than bleeding out and slipping into unconsciousness. But it still played on Fang's mind. Every time he thought about Sam the same things came to the surface again and again. He'd killed an innocent person, even if it was to ease his suffering, without a second thought.

What was he becoming?

He tortured himself with that question for a good few hours, as he watched the sun slowly invade the darkness of the trees around them. Checking on her, he noted Max was still sleeping properly, her face serene as a hand leant against his chest, the other folded neatly against her.

Holding her tightly to him, his other hand behind her head, he gently kissed her forehead, his lips lingering there for a few seconds before resting his cheek in their place. They'd move on once she got some sleep, wherever she decided they were going next.

They needed to get away from here.


	18. Observation

**Ok. Anyone else noticed the wibble fit fanfiction seems to be having recently? Yeah. Wouldn't even let us log in yesterday, and now it seems the upload function is broken. Me? I cheated and edited something I've already uploaded. Now we'll just have to see if the chapter update function is still broken. If it isn't, this will be shining at you in a few moments after...well...right now.**

**Thought its kinda good, because I didnt have an update for yesterday...just half a one ^^;**

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**CHIO: Congrats on getting a review in before it broke, btw =P Nicely done. This story is going to encompus the second and third books in one, because it probably wont be enough words to fill two worthwhile fan fcitions _and _the title is reflective of how the third book is going to end. I was never a fan of the books following the third one. I've read them, and personally thought good ol' JP was slipping slightly. No offence JP. So I'm going to pretend they kinda never happened and stop at book three. Im also going to majorly change the ending of said book, because I feel like it. Expect more action and drama =3  
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Part 17

As they flew over the expanse of houses and shops that was known as Washington DC, Fang was characteristically silent. Thing was, it wasn't because it was just in his attitude to be so. He closed his eyes as a warm updraft ruffled his feathers, wiping his bangs from his eyes.

Max had retreated into herself a little after the funeral. It hadn't been long since they'd lost the Flock after all, another death just reopened a throbbing wound. He watched her as she flew, her strong shoulders working to keep her aloft, wings gracefully flapping up and down in the cool morning air. If you didn't know her as well as he did, you'd think she was fine.

The fact she wasn't enjoying the flight meant something was wrong.

He tilted his feathers slightly and silently swooped a little closer to her, his long, dark wing slightly brushed hers as he synced their flaps. Letting her know he was there. She turned her head and glanced back at him, her dirty blonde hair flying around her face as she smiled at him softly.

He returned it, keeping his wing close to hers as she looked back ahead of her again. He was glad she wasn't in the mood to talk, because he didn't want to discuss what was going through his head right now. He wasn't even sure what he wanted anymore, let alone be able to voice them to Max.

Sure, he was itching to know if he had parents, what they looked like, if he had a family somewhere out in the world. On the other wing he didn't want to break the promise he made about not leaving her. He loved her, yet when I came down to the wire, he was in indecision.

Parents. Or Max. Could he have both?

Would his parents even want to take him in, let alone another winged child? What if he wanted to stay, but Max didn't? There were just so many variables in the one situation if had his brain in turmoil, confused about what he really wanted.

Did he want parents, or the just security of a roof over his head?

"There." Max's voice pulled him out of his thoughts and back to scanning the houses below him. The houses were much tighter packed together than on Anne's road, a few minutes walk between the front doors at the very most. They had reasonably spacious yards, and conservative yet pretty big houses. They even had picket fencing separating the houses up.

Max pointed to one house somewhere amongst the rows. Through the semi darkness, Fang picked out its main features. It was two stories high, the bricked a deep red brown against a dark brown roof. They circled overhead a few times, taking in the two bay windows, one either side of the front door, the conservatory sticking out the back of the house, made completely of glass. The balcony that covered the whole of the back of the house's second floor.

Fang was the first to flake off, gliding into a tree across the road and landing neatly in its branches. Max landed slightly less gracefully in a higher branch just seconds before, dropping down beside onto the thicker branch he'd chosen. Her flying had gotten a lot better recently, even if it still had a few kinks, but she got tired much slower, using them more efficiently.

"What do you think?" She was the first to break the silence, searching his face for any sign of emotion as she held the branch below her. He was laying sideways against the tree truck, his feet dangling aimlessly as he stared out over the house. The sun was rising on the horizon, making his parents' house seem burnt orange.

His parents' house.

"Its too perfect," he mumbled after a few seconds silence, tilting his head to look at her. Her eyeybrows were furrowed as she tried to determine a single emotion from Fang, but even his eyes were covering what he was thinking. Probably because he didn't know what to think.

"How can something be too perfect?" Max queried as she took another look over the house. There was an apple tree in their front garden, almost adding to the perfect picture. "Give me an example where something in our lives has been too perfect."

"Anne." Ok she should have seen that one coming. That whole business with Sam was messing her head up. She sighed softly, refusing to look a Fang as she heard him fidget. That was, until she felt arms around her waist pulling her into his chest.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw he'd moved so his back was pressed against the tree trunk, slightly slouching as he dangled his legs over the sides. He pulled Max right into him, so her back was pressed to his chest, his arms wrapped loosely around her middle.

"I'm glad I don't need excuses for this anymore." He mumbled. Max smiled softly and closed her eyes, relaxing into him. She could feel herself drifting off, the sleep she got last night not fully compensating for the recent lack. Fang hushing softly into her ear was her undoing as she slipped into slumber, her legs falling on each side of the branch with his.

It was a good few hours later that Max found herself being roused, Fang pulling her up a little higher and shaking her shoulder gently. She blinked in a sleepy daze, twisting to look at him in confusion, but he simply nodded towards the house across the street as he pulled her upright. Looking across the road, Max rubbed her eyes before focusing again.

There was a man and a woman in the doorway of Fang's parents' house, seeming having a chat. They both leant forwards and shared a kiss before the man headed down the drive to his car. Fang zoomed in on his face, curiosity getting the better of him. Max followed suit, both of them silently thinking the same things.

Same face and jaw shape. Same hair colour. Same eye shape, even if the colour was wrong.

"He looks…just like you…" Fang held her a little tighter as she said it. His stomach was doing flips, his brain working overtime as he tried to look for other similarities, but the man got in his car and drove away. Max tilted her head to look at him. He was still staring at the point the car had been a few seconds ago, his face completely blank as he thought it through.

"Too perfect." he repeated, finally looking back at her to catch her gaze. She rolled her eyes and looked back at the house, wishing the woman hadn't already shut the door and gone inside. He smirked slightly, kissing the back of her head before lightly stroking her arms.

For a few more seconds there was silence.

"We could go see if she looks like your mum…" Max turned her head to look at him again, catching his gaze. He was still unreadable, keeping all his thoughts and emotions locked up where she could reach them. He looked from her to the doorway, seeming to think for a few minutes before removing an arm from her waist and tilting his body to reach into his back pocket. He wrapped his arm back around her and he held up the creased photo of his parents where both of them could see.

The man definitely matched the photo, though he was a little greyer around the edges now.

"Come on," Max pulled his arms off of her and sat up, swinging her leg over the branch to sit facing forwards. Fang didn't move, studying the photo as he lifted a leg and laying it on the branch. Max cocked her head to the side, raising an eyebrow until he finally looked up at her again.

"I'll stay here," he said, pulling himself up to look forwards as well. "Compare her to the photo." He wasn't going to admit the butterflies in his stomach hadn't gone away. He was actually excited and scared at the idea he could have just found his family. He could have a home to live in, a normal life rather than spending it on the run. They could both live a normal life.

Max nodded in response before jumping down to the floor, not looking back as she strode up the path. Typical Max, not making the slightest indication of the runaway thoughts in her head. She felt sick with nerves. She could be just about to lose Fang to his real family, yet she wanted to help him every step of the may to leaving her.

Mad? Just slightly. But he deserved the chance after all.

Taking a deep breath, Max hesitated for barely a second before rapping on the door. She then clasped her hands behind her back and waited.

"Muuum! Someone's at the doooor!" A young girls voice shouted from somewhere inside the house. Max couldn't help but smile slightly. It reminded her of Nudge when she was trying to convince them to stop for food.

"Get it for me Hayley? I'm busy."

Damn, I need to see the mother…

The door flew open. Max had to stop her jaw hitting the floor. Stood in front of her was what could only be described as a slightly younger, female Fang. Her features were very similar to his, the jaw shape, the face shape. Even their eyes were exactly the same. The only difference was the light brown, slightly wavy hair sweeping to the middle of her back, held in place by a bright red hair band.

"Hi." Short and sweet. It was a mirror of Fang at his finest.

"Uh…hi…I'm selli-"

"Muuuuum, she's seeeeelling things!" Hayley interrupted her and turned, stalking back into the house to find her mum. Max peeked around the slightly open door, taking in the long hallway, the staircase just next to another door. It all looked normal, like an every day house.

A few seconds later a woman stepped out of the back of the house, stopping halfway to the door to talk to a little girl behind her. Max quickly withdrew from the gap and stood as she had before. She probably wouldn't stay long if she thought the girl supposedly selling things was cataloguing her house at the same time.

The door opened wider, and Max couldn't help mentally comparing the woman to the photo. He had the same slightly rounded features, a jolly smile plastered across her face as she greeted her. Light brown, slightly wavy hair stopped just above her shoulders, kept back by a similar bad to that of Hayley. She had flour on her cheeks.

Fang's mum. Just like the flock had always imagined.

"Sorry about that," she wiped her hands on her apron, which was also splattered with flour. "My little-un lost her school shoes. Can I help you?" Max was still struck into silence. She had Fang's deep chocolate brown eyes. This was definitely the woman in the photograph.

Fang had parents.

"Hello?" Max snapped out of her thoughts, meeting Fang's mum's eyes as she tilted her head, waving a hand in front of her face. "Are you alright?"

"Sorry, Ma'am. I…I'm selling subscriptions for the Washington Post. Would you like one?"

"Sorry sweetie, my husband deals with all these things. You just missed him, maybe you could come back tomorrow morning, just ten minutes earlier?" Max nodded and smiled sweetly.

"Sure. Thank you." She quickly turned tail and walked back down the drive, waiting for the door to close behind her. When it did, she did a quick three sixty before spreading her wings and flying back into Fang's tree, shimmying down from the higher branches to drop down on his branch again. His eyes were still glued to the photo, his jaw set in concentration.

"…I have parents…" Max met his eyes as he looked at her, the photograph still in his hands as he held her gaze. They swam with so may emotions it wasn't funny. Surprise, shock, excitement, worry, apprehension, relief, and so many she couldn't place. His jaw was set tight as he tried to prevent the feelings showing on his face, but Max could read him like a book.

"Yeah," she let a small smile spread across her lips. Fang let one turn the corner of his mouth. He felt a little queasy as he looked back at the photo, running his fingers over its surface. He had parents. Ones that really existed, clear as day, walking around right in front of him. Suddenly he wanted to meet them, to talk to them. He wanted to get to know them.

"Wanna meet them?" Her voice jogged him out of his own thoughts. He blinked once, looking back down to the picture for a few seconds before meeting her eyes again. He smirked very slightly, one of the little smiles Max loved seeing him exhibit, then nodded just once.

-

They watched three kids and Fang's mum pile out of the house just half an hour later, down the road to a bus stop. A huge yellow school bus stopped and picked all the kids up, mum waving them off until the bus was out of sight before pottering back to her house.

He was right, it all was almost too perfect to believe. School busses like on the TV and a dad leaving for a job before anyone else was up and about. A mum who stayed at home and seemingly baked, got herself covered in flour. It was what the whole flock had always dreamed their parents would be like.

And for Fang it was coming true.

He wanted to vomit. His stomach was doing back flips as the day trudged past ever so slowly. Max jumped down half way through the day and actually stole a piece of their mail to find out their surnames. Stole meaning 'borrowed for an indefinite amount of time without asking'. He was still holding the letter as the father got back into the driveway, the kids having already got back from school.

He glanced down and read the address again. Mr and Mrs. Raynor. He finally had a surname to call his own. It was all kind of surreal, like it wasn't really happening. He felt Max give a gentle tug on his arm and looked up at her. She motioned with her head towards the house before jumping down from the branch.

This was it. Now or never.

Fang swivelled to face forwards and dropped down to the floor. As they started up the driveway, he paused to place the letter back in the mailbox, where it should be, before slowly following Max to the front door.

For some reason his brain decided the door was laughing at him. It suddenly felt huge in comparison to him, despite the face he was easily six feet tall. This could be the start of a new life, or incredible heartbreak, for the both of them. It was a huge moment in their lives, one that was set into motion by a really simple act.

Through the haze, he felt Max's hand slip into his and give it a gentle squeeze. He drew himself out of his thoughts, jumping about as they ran through every possible outcome of this interaction, and caught her eyes. They were soft and understanding, searching for some kind of response from his own, but his thoughts and feelings were too mixed up.

"You ready?" Fang took a deep breath and looked back at the oppressive door. It was still mocking him. He was a coward for not knocking on the door, for even hesitating to do so. Defiantly, Fang took one step forwards.

Then knocked twice.


	19. Meet the Parents

**You've probably all noticed I'm going through a dramatic statement/ cliffie phase. To be honest, I cant actually tell you _why_, but I've noticed the pattern recently. Meh. I blame fanfiction's wibble fit.**

**Ok then. You're veeeeery lucky to be getting this chapter tonight, since I was out most of the day today and this was a right awkward whatsit to write too. Complete and utterpain, in fact, that I've rewritten all of it at some point or another while in the rpocess of writing it. Its hard to imagine how Fang could react to meeting his parents when he's already as quiet as ever, ya know? -w- So. I hope you think this is in character, and like it.**

**PLEASE review. Because I love reviews =3 Like hearing what you think about the thing.**

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**Crazy: Thanks for the review =3 Glad you liked them ^^ Welcome to the following awkward social situation, I hope that's to your liking too.**

**luh-ver4ever: wouldnt ever think about stopping ;D An cliffie's are fuuuuuuun ~shot~**

**Strawberry: Yeah...it sent me emails about my reviews but wouldnt let me see them on the site this morning, lol. Silly thing, least it seems fixed now.**

**Midnight: I almost _always_ update every day =P so cliffies arent too bad, hopefully...please dun shooteth meh oO;**

**Racer: No problemo! Readum Below...o!

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Disclaimer (because I haven't put one in a while): I am sadly not a famous writer like JP, and therefore dont own Maximum Ride or the original plot. His parents are mine, as are their kids. I also own their apple tree. Whoo~

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**Part 18**

They waited about a minute for someone to answer the door. To both of them, it felt like hours as they shifted from one foot to another, smoothing out their reasonably clean clothes and clearing their throats. When the door finally opened, Fang thought he was going to faint from nerves. The butterflies in his stomach were having a freakin' party in his intestines.

"Hey Mum. It's the girl from before." Hayley called over her shoulder without taking her eyes off the nervous teens in front of her. Max tried to smile, but she couldn't. It came across as a strained grimace. Probably like she was constipated.

_Great. Because scaring the kids will help._ Max dropped the smile and looked away from her stare, examining the tree in their front garden with great interest. Fang kept his face straight and set his jaw as Hayley turned her attention to him, taking in his appearance.

He nodded once to the girl, giving Max's hand a gently squeeze more to remind himself he wasn't standing on that doorstep alone. Hayley raised en eyebrow at the pair as they shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another, Max avoiding the girl's gaze as Fang held it.

He almost stopped breathing when his mother took Hayley's place at the door. She was exactly what he's hoped she'd be under all the illusions his mother was a druggie who sold him. She was happy, a small amount of weight on her figure as she greeted them with gusto.

"Good gracious, you are keen to sell those papers!" She laughed as she said it, coaxing a slightly better smile from Max than the nervous one she'd worn before. She looked around at Fang and sent him a smile too, but he couldn't even begin to try and respond. He squeezed Max's hand again as he stared at her wide eyes, who squeezed right back reassuringly as his mum continued.

"Just wait here a second and I'll go find my hus-"

"Actually, Ma'am…I…I'm sorry, but I lied about selling the papers…" Max interrupted as her smile fell once again. The woman furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to figure why someone would lie about something like that. Maybe they wanted money for something and decided to come clean. Either way it wasn't happening. She folded her arms across her chest, narrowing her eyes at the pair.

"Then what are you here for?" There was a hint of scepticism along with annoyance in her voice, the lying obviously not helping their case. Max gave Fang's hand a gently tug so he moved forwards slightly, pulling his mother's attention back to his face for a few seconds before Max opening her mouth drew her in again.

Max suddenly wished she'd thought this through a little more, at least planned what to say at this point even if the rest was unpredictable. A few times she opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out before she shut it.

The woman seemed to be getting increasingly annoyed.

"Well if you're just here to waste my time, I have dinner to make. Goodbye." Max opened her mouth to object but the door slammed shut before she could utter a syllable. She closed her mouth soundlessly, staring at the closed door for a few seconds before looking around at Fang.

He was frowning, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion and concentration. Max stepped back a little bit to talk to him, but he pulled his hand from hers and took a few steps forwards. She watched as he took a deep breath, set his jaw and blocked loudly on the door. They could hear muffled voices talking behind the door, followed by the scuffing of a chair against carpet and footsteps.

Fang stepped back next to Max as the door flew open. It was almost like looking in a mirror, the determined set jaws and piercing stares almost identical as Fang stared down his father. Max took a few glances between the two, but daren't say a word to break the silence.

"Can I help you?" His voice was steely, the no nonsense tone way too familiar to Max's ears.

"Sir," his attention was drawn to Fang as he spoke. He stiffened as the man's eyes scrolled over him, taking in his scruffy, slightly dirty clothing.

"Yes?" His hand was on the door. Max could see he was itching to tell them to get lost and slam the door in their faces. They were disturbing their dinner for a seemingly stupid reason. Not exactly in the guys good books right now.

"We're here because…becau…" Fang faltered as he started his father in the eyes, trying to decide how to voice such a sensitive matter. Father Fang raised an eyebrow, tapping the door with his long, slender fingers as he waited for the scruffy boy in front of him to finish his sentence. His thoughts drifted to the dinner set for him on the table, getting steadily colder.

"Have you lost a son, Sir?" Max interjected, pulling the man's attention from Fang so he could relax. The man furrowed his eyebrows, opening his mouth to speak but Max cut him off. "About fourteen years ago, a baby boy? Maybe you were told he died, or he was kidna-"

"What is it to you?" The question was directed more at Max, his attention still glued to her since she had been talking. She suddenly lost her ability to speak, the same intense stare she was so used to silencing her when it wasn't from her best friend. A few seconds later, Fang cleared his throat, pulling his attention back to him.

Half a minute passed while the man processed what he'd been told, taking in the boy's physical appearance as the thought sank into his head. The boy in front of him looked _incredibly_ similar to himself. He stroked along his jaw thoughtfully, tracing the shape as he compared it to Fang's, the way his jaw was set as he was being watched. The took in the boy's facial expressions, furrowed eyebrows and stiffening his muscles and watching the man in front of him carefully.

It really clicked when he saw the boy had his wife's eyes.

His features softened as he studied the boy a second time, picking out even the smallest details now he was looking for them. The crease near his lips that was made by a half smile, the almost black hair hanging in front of his eyes. His jaw drooped slightly, until his mouth formed a small 'o' shape. Max thought he might faint, but instead he straightened back up and set his jaw again.

Then slammed the door shut.

Max glanced at Fang, noticing him slowly relax his muscles and slightly flex the fingers of his previously closed fist before looking at her. His eyes swam with every emotion she could place, from confusion and anger to relief, along with a good many she couldn't place. Max raised an eyebrow, but he simply shrugged in response as if his biological father slamming a door in his face was like getting a slap on the wrist.

He turned and motioned to the street with his head, refusing to look back at the door as he started walking down the driveway. Max took a fleeting glance back at the door before spinning on her heels and jogging to catch up with him. He was striding quickly away from the house, Max skipping slightly to keep up with his long steps. They both heard the door open again as they reached the pavement.

"Wait!" Fang froze on the spot, not looking around. Max turned to look over her shoulder, taking in the woman from before. Her face was slightly red, her eyes slightly puffy. She was holding a tissue in the hand against the doorframe as the other held the door open.

"Please." Her voice sounded weaker, softer than before. "Please, I'm sorry, come back…"

She looked back at Fang, his eyes meeting hers as he weighed up his options. He could understand why they'd be sceptical of them. They were probably told their baby died, might even have been given false ashes or something. He still wanted to meet them, even if they turned him away. As he thought it all though, he searched Max's eyes for her opinion, but they told him just one thing.

_Its your decision._

Fang closed his eyes and tilted his head back, taking a deep breath. As much as he liked having some sway in the 'what they did next' thing, he didn't like making decisions like this. Suddenly he wished he didn't have to decide.

"Please…" She was pleading, almost begging, for a second chance. He wasn't sure he wanted to be in this situation anymore, though he wasn't really sure how he'd expected it to go if it hadn't been as awkward as hell. He exhaled slowly, letting out the air in his lungs before he went blue. A second later he turned back to Max, who was still watching him like a hawk.

A gentle nod towards the house was all the indication she needed. Turning to face the now wide open front door, Max held out her hand to him, a small smile on her face. He imitated her as he placed his hand in hers, as small smile on his lips as she gave it a gentle squeeze before leading him back up the driveway.

Max swore she heard the woman mutter 'Thank God' as they started back towards her, standing right to the side to let them into the house. Fang followed her inside, still gripping her hand tightly as they look in the interior of the house. It looked bigger on the inside than it hand from the air, a narrow but long hallway with a staircase pressed to the left hand wall leading up to the second floor. His senses went on high alert as the door was shut behind them, he felt Max stiffen too.

Stuck in an unfamiliar house with unknown people. Wow, talk about lack of judgement.

The woman shuffled past them as she wiped her eyes with her tissue, motioning for them to go into the doorway on the left hand side of the hallway. Max held the woman's gaze as she stepped forwards and peeked around the doorway. Fang leant over her shoulder to take a look too.

It was obviously a living room. It reminded Max of when she had stayed with the Martinez family, cosy and welcoming compared to a tree or alcove in a cliff face. At the far end were three sofas positioned around a coffee table, a television pressed against the wall the side there wasn't a sofa present. Around the room sideboards and bookcases lined the walls, filled with books, DVDs, CDs, small collectable figurines and photo frames.

Max took a tentative step in, noting the man from before was seated on one of the sofas, his back to them as he placed something in his hands back on the table. Fang followed her in, cataloguing the exit points as he took in the appearance of the room.

"Take a seat with your Dad," her voice was soft and gentle, almost breaking like she was on the edge of tears again. Fang let go of Max's hand to look around at her, seeing the tears in the corners of her eyes. "I'll go make some tea."

He nodded once, and the woman managed a small smile before slipping out and closing the door. He turned back around to see Max examining a picture on a shelf of three children, one of whom was the girl who'd opened the door to them. Fang took a few steps to reach her and lightly touched her arm to get her attention. As she turned, he tilted his head towards the sofas where his dad sat silently before stepping over there himself.

Fang slid along to the end of a sofa, away from his father, so Max could sit down next to him. She did so swiftly after, and the teens exchanged glances before turning their attention to what was on the coffee table. It was a large, turquoise book with 'album' printed on the top.

He looked up just as his father put a hand on the album, pushing it towards Fang and tapping it once with his hand. He looked down briefly when his father removed his hand, but back up again to meet his father's now soft gaze.

"First page."

That was all he said as he held Fang's eyes to his own. A few seconds afterwards he looked back down and pulled the album onto his lap, Max leaning in to look over his shoulder as he flipped the cover and protective layer open.

Despite there being many empty picture slots on the first page, just the top left hand one was occupied. Fang traced a finger over the plastic film holding it, trying to find a baby in the mass of black and white that was a sonogram. Just to the right was a little bit of writing, added with the utmost care of a cursive hand.

_Charlie_

_36 Weeks_

_July 13__th__ 1995_

_Its 2009 now…fourteen years off of that would be…take away ten is 1999, then take the five is 199...5_ Fang had been absently counting on his fingers, at that point all of his digits froze mid-count.

"That's you. Before you were born." he didn't need the oral confirmation from his father, but to be honest it added to the butterfly rave in his stomach. _Now _he felt like he was going to be sick, because suddenly it all seemed real. Before it had been like he was watching someone else in a film.

He held the photo album out to Max and she took it, raising an eyebrow at him as he leaned forwards and rubbed his face with his hands. A few moments later he locked eyes with his dad again, his face set as he asked the question that had played on his mind since he was old enough to comprehend it.

"Why?"

He couldn't bring himself to ask if they'd given him up, or anything specific. He was afraid of hearing the answer he'd convinced himself was the truth for so long. He took a quick glance at Max, since she wasn't usually this quiet, to see her flipping though the photo album, pictures of his other kids filling the pages.

"We were in the dark about it," Fang's dad answered at his mother walked into the room, a tray of mugs in her hands. She placed it on the table and his dad leaned forwards to pick up his cradling it in his hands and gazing down at it for inspiration.

"We went into hospital when your mother went into labour." He hadn't looked up from his tea, swirling it slightly as he continued. "Got to a ward, everything went as smoothly as a first child does. It lasted twenty hours at least. I was too wired on coffee by the end to remember how many exactly." He smirked slightly at the memory, looking back up at Fang.

"We held you once, just for a few minutes. You were bawling your eyes out as your mother tried to soothe you. I was too preoccupied with playing with your tiny fingers, your toes, your sweet little nose." A small smile turned up the corner of Fang's mouth as his father's smile grew, his eyes glazing just for a second while he remembered those first few moments.

His smile didn't last though, fell as soon as his wife spoke.

"Then a nurse took him from my arms, saying he needed to be weighed and a few tests run…" Both bird kids shifted their attention to her as tears welled in her eyes, her voice breaking as she continued. "I kissed your hand and told you I'd see you soon. That we could go home and get out of that place. If I'd known…if…if only I…"

"We waited a half an hour before we asked a nurse what had happened." Fangs father wrapped an arm around his mother, who was sniffing as tears rolled down her cheeks once again. He pulled her close and gently stroked the back of her head as she snuffled, waiting for a few seconds for her to calm down before he continued:

"She said she'd go and find out for us. Returned five minutes later, doctor with a solemn look on his face in tow. He then told us our perfect little baby had passed away." Fang stiffened, imagining the looks on their faces at being told their baby was dead. Max reached out and took his hand, but he didn't respond at all, keeping his jaw set tight and his attention on his dad as he kept talking.

"We were told there was to be a post mortem examination to find out why, and received a phone call the next day stating his heart had stopped. They didn't have any idea why. When we went to collect the baby's body we were handed an urn of ash, being told cremations were standard procedure after a post mortem. We had them buried under a tree in the cemetery the following Sunday…"

"Wh-where have you been all this time..?" His attention turned to his mum as she spoke through her silent sobs, and his face instantly softened. Her cheeks were bright red, her eyes puffy as even more tears still crept out and rolled down her cheeks. The tissue in her hand was sodden and completely useless, but she still pressed it to her eyes occasionally.

"It's…not that important." All eyes turned to Max as she finally spoke, her gaze set on Fang's mother. "The main thing is we got out a long time ago. One of the guys there helped us out and took us far away from them. We managed to get some details about you from one of their computers, and…that's how we ended up here…"

"What about your parents..?" His dad pushed, intense eyes falling on her. Max opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She quickly lent forwards and picked up her tea, taking a long sip as she avoided his gaze.

"Max doesn't have any." It was Fang's turn in the spotlight as he squeezed the hand holding his, his own intense stare turned on his father. "We couldn't find any records. She has no parents."

Silence. Max wanted the floor to swallow her so badly.

"Oh, sweetheart…" Max looked up from her tea to Fang's mum, who's damp eyes had softened into a sympathetic look. She tried to resist the urge to tense up or glare. She _hated_ getting that look from Fang, let alone people she hardly knew. "I'm so sorry…"

Max shrugged it off and turned her attention back to her mug. She didn't need parents, didn't even want to know if they existed anymore. It would just be something else to worry about, a distraction from her life with Fang.

If he still came with her after this.

The silence that followed was truly deafening. Both bird kids finished their tea as his mother recovered, sitting up enough to sip hers occasionally. Her face slowly un-flushed and her eyes drained of tears, though they still looked a little bloodshot even after twenty awkward minutes had passed.

"What are you planning to do?" That was a question neither bird kid could answer. They shared a quick glance before looking up at his dad, who was watching them as he drained the last of his lukewarm tea from his cup.

"We have a few more things to do…well, I do…" Max could feel Fang's eyes immediately start boring a hole in the back of her head, but she didn't look around. "So I wont impose on you any longer. Fa-…Charlie might want to stay here, I don't know…"

"You're both more then welcome to stay…" Max smiled slightly on the inside. Fang was so lucky, having a nice mum like her. She dared a glance around at him and was met with the piercing stare she new had been aimed at the back of her head for the last few minutes. She turned her head back to his mum as she continued: "Will you come back after you finish your errands..?"

_Cha'. Saving the world is an errand. _"It'd be my pleasure."

"We'll always have a bed open for you, my dear. As we will Charlie is he decides to go with you." All eyes fell on Fang, who shifted uncomfortably and downed the last of his own tea as a distraction from their intense stares. He'd have to make the choice. The one he'd been dreading since they found their address.

Stay with Max, or stay with his parents.


	20. Certainy Not For Waffles

**Ok, so I didn't update yesterday. In my defense, I did an 11-6 shift today, and an 8-4 yesterday and my brain just didn't wanna write things...Wouldn't even let me write the AU Max ride one with no wings I've been distracting myself with when i get writers block. So, nothing got done anywhere. lol. Blame Subway. So yeah, this is a little longer than usual, to make up for the update lack yesterday, and stuff. **

**Also, if you think i might as well post the AU one, do say, coz at the moment its just a 'lolimborediwannawritesomethingdifferent' story. If you can read that =3 So, this update. I'm not too ecstatic at how it turned out, to be totally honest. But it could have been worse.**

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**Orangeduck: Mega apologies for this one. I didn't update a second time because a) I was sleeping (timezones, yeesh) and b) i didn't have another chapter written, hence the day gap ^^; But here's the update, hopefully I'll be updating every day again now.**

**Strawberry Shortcake: You still have to wait to hear his decision ;) because im mean like that, but you should get the gist from this chapter.**

**happyasusual: You're back! =D welcome. And no worries lol, i get behind on the ones i read a loooot of the time. because i read too many -w- Il y a une update.**

**luh-ver4ever: Hey, awesomeness is what I'm here for ;)**

**Crazy: I tried, but really, Fang is a pain in the kaiser sometimes :P And wow, awesome and amazing?! =o *speachlessness***

**theghostqueen: Glad you enjoyed it :) Merci for the review!

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Also, the french is due to the face that I learned my boss speaks french today. That meant a lot of swearing in french at the cash machine for being a pain in the behind. Hehe, french...

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**Part 19**

"Sleep on it," his mum had insisted as he'd furrowed his brows, staring at his empty tea mug. "We have a spare room, you're both welcome to stay the night." He'd looked up and caught Max's gaze, noting the same look as last time in her eyes. _Man_ he hated this decision making stuff, had no idea how Max had managed it with five bird kids to keep track of.

He'd nodded silently, and his mum, who he now knew to be called Barbera, had jumped up and collected mugs, talking at high speed about going and making up the beds and finding them some sleeping clothes, asking if they were hungry. He'd nodded silently again, and she'd pasted on a huge smile as she bustled into the kitchen to make some extra dinner.

Now here they were, stood outside the dining room as they tried to get up the courage to go inside. Fang's siblings were already in there, eating their own dinners. They knew one of them had been listening outside the living room door because both teens had heard them getting quietly scolded and sent back to the dining room.

Fang's hand was on the door knob, but he hadn't turned it yet. He felt kind of stupid. He could take down erasers and break into secret facilities without a second thought. Enter a dining room filled with his family?

He froze.

He felt a hand wrap around the one on the door knob, and glanced down briefly. He followed the am up to Max's face as the hand squeezed his very slightly. She smiled a slightly nervous yet slightly reassuring smile, causing Fang to half smile back. Taking a deep breath, he turned the knob and pushed the door open.

Three pairs of eyes instantly trained themselves on the door as it opened, eager to get a glance of their supposed brother. Fang peeked around the slightly opened door, briefly meeting all of their eyes and taking in their appearances.

The eldest was Hayley, the girl they'd seen open the door a couple of times. Her hair was loose around her face, tucked behind her ear on one side as she placed another forkful of meat pie and mash potato in her mouth. She had the same critical look in her eyes his father had first exhibited, the resemblance to him almost as uncanny as Fang's.

The middle kid was a boy Fang judged to be about eight or nine. He seemed to have stopped mid chew, his half open mouth putting half chewed food on display to the rest of the table. He had short, scruffy and slightly wavy light brown hair, almost exactly like Barbera's but kept a little shorter. His father tapped him under the chin and he instantly closed it, still staring at Fang like an alien as he resumed chewing.

The youngest was a little girl. She had dark blonde hair and her mother's chocolate brown eyes, a slightly chubbier look about her than her older siblings. She'd already finished her dinner and seemed to be jumping up and down excitedly in her seat. She couldn't be any older than six, maybe a little younger than that,

The table was made to seat six, with four of the seats taken as John took his seat next to the young boy. That left one seat next to Hayley and one seat next to the youngest girl left for the taking. John gestured for the both of them to sit as soon as Fang had shuffled in enough for Max to see too, and Fang quickly took the seat next to the youngest, leaving Max to sit down next to Hayley.

Silence enthused. There'd been a lot of them this evening.

"So you're my new brother?" Fang looked round at the little girl next to him. She was swinging her legs as she held the seat of her chair, her large chocolate brown eyes staring at him innocently. Fang nodded once, and the girl's smile grew wider.

"That means I'm your little sister!" She exclaimed gleefully. "My name's Annabelle, but most people call me Anna. You're called Charley, right? Like mum and dad chose?"

Fang looked up at Max, who shrugged before taking another glance around the table. He looked at his father, who was chewing his lukewarm dinner slowly as e watched the discussion between him and Anna. Fang swallowed a silent sigh before looking back at her.

"Nickname's Fang." He stated, watching the girl furrow her brows and tilt her head slowly. "Been called Nick for a while, but if its easier you can call me Charlie."

"Where did you get Fang from?" Both teens jumped, Fang barely noticeably, as Hayley finally joined the conversation. He turned to look at her. She was chewing her dinner slowly, her eyebrows furrowed in slightly concentration.

"Unno," he shrugged to emphasise the point. "Just got given it."

"Is your friend our sister too? She doesn't look like us, not mum or dad. People say I look like mum. Who does Max look like?" Little Annabelle reminded Max of Nudge more than anything when she opened her mouth.

"You know how nasty people get rid of animals when they don't love them anymore, An?" All eyes turned to John as he twirled a piece of pasta onto his fork. Anna nodded, her full focus on him as he continued. "Max's parents were even meaner, and did it to her."

"Dude. That sucks. I'm sorry." Max looked up at the middle kid as he spoke, his mouth still full of pasta. John gave him a slight nudge on the arm and he instantly swallowed, mumbling an apology as he twirled the last of his pasta onto a fork.

"That's James. He's kinda gross. Ignore him when he's gross." Max had to bite her lip. Little kids speaking their minds, they say the silliest things sometimes.

James shot her a glare, but she smiled sweetly, still kicking her legs in the air as she hummed softly. Barbera returned with a plate of pasta each of the two bird kids, setting them down on the placemats in front of them.

No way that was going to fill them up.

"Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" Fang stiffened slightly as Hayley asked the question, daring a glance at Max. "Have you been in the paper or something? I'm sure I know your faces…" Max had also stiffened, her laden fork just inches from her open mouth. She closed it and lowered the fork slightly as she returned Fang's gaze, then made a leadership like decision.

"Can we show you after dinner? We're starving…" She turned and played the bambi eyes on Barbera. Her eyes instantly softened and a small, sympathetic smile came across her lips.

"Of course you can, there's some seconds for each of you as well."

If sympathetic smiles led to extra food, Max could get used to them.

*~*~*~*

"So why are we outside?" Max ignored Hayley's comment as she took a deep breath of the night air. It always felt refreshing on her face and feathers, especially when they could walk into a central heated house and curl up in a comfy bed afterwards.

"What is it you wanted to show us?" Barbera's voice echoed with confusion as she held Annabelle's shoulders in front of her, probably trying to stop her drooping if she fell asleep there and then. She looked like she might actually do just that.

"I…skimmed over some details earlier…" Max stated and she turned to look at Fang's new family, hoping to God what they were about to show them wouldn't get him adopted and disowned all in the space of a few hours. "There was some…other stuff, we didn't tell you about…"

John frowned as James next to him raised an eyebrow. Hayley was stood between her parents, a thoroughly bored yet inquisitive look on her face. Max took a deep breath. In…Out…These were the first people to hear the back story behind the wings.

Here goes nothing.

"They took me and Fa-Charlie because of something they did to us while we were growing inside you…" Max explained carefully, watching a look of surprise and disgust fall over both of Fang's parent's faces. Both the elder kids raised eyebrows, but didn't react in any other way.

"They…added an extra thing to our genes. So we aren't quite…you know…_normal_, as such." Max took a quick glance at Fang, who had his eyes closed and head tilted slightly downwards. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea, but they were going to find out one day, and this was the best way in Max's mind.

"What did they add..?" Barbera's voice was a whisper, almost lost on the gentle breeze pulling at Max's hair. She tried to think of a way to phrase 'We can fly!' without being so crude, but came up with nothing.

"That's why we need to be outside." Fang's calm voice filled the almost awkward silence, his head raising again as he looked his mother in the eyes, followed by his father. Max knew that look, it was a silent apology.

Did he think they'd hate him for having wings?

All his family furrowed their eyebrows, except Annabelle, who'd had her eyebrows furrowed from the idea you grew in inside another person. Though that was soon replaced by wide eyed shock and goldfish impressions.

Fang was extending a wing.

His feathers glistened very slightly purple in the moonlight, a contrast against the black clothing and dulled surroundings. Max watched their reactions, amazement and shock covering even John's usually façade covered face. A fascinated smile spread over Annabelle's face. It was probably like being in a fairy story for her.

"And you..?" Max looked at Barbera as soon as she realised she was being addressed. Any sign of a rejection was well off of their faces, no disgust or horror clouded their features as they all turned to look at Max. She nodded once, and swiftly spread on of her own white specked wings.

"Wow…" James looked like he might keel over, but was holding himself up pretty well. Annabelle looked like she was going to explode from excitement, whereas Hayley simply mouthed 'Oh. My. God.' before realisation finally hit her.

"You were on the news…in the papers…did that really happen?" Max took a step forwards and let her other wing out, enjoying the feel of the crisp night air between her feathers and being able to stretch her muscles before hanging them lazily behind her.

"Yeah…" It was Fang who responded to the question. Max couldn't bring herself to, it hadn't been long enough since the incident had occurred for her to mention it without ending up on the verge or tears. "We lost a good friend that day…"

Silence. God Max had had it up to her _eyeballs_ with silences.

"I'm so sorry…" it was all Barbera could think to say as she stared at their wings, taking in all the details she had been told that evening. Fang smiled gently at her and shook his head slightly. She didn't need to be sorry. It wasn't her fault, after all.

"Come on," John finally snapped out of his wing-induced stupor and tapped James on the shoulder, drawing the rest of his family's attention with his statement. "Been a long day, lets all go get some sleep, ok?"

Mixed mumbles and complaints followed as they started to file towards the door, Max and Fang retracting their wings fully before falling into step.

"Will Charlie be staying with us as our brother now, dad?" Max and Fang exchanged glances, the little girl's whisper easily audible to their sensitively trained ears.

"Maybe sweetie. We'll see."

*~*~*~

Holding Max to his chest, Fang lightly stroked the back of her head as he stared at the ceiling. It felt weird, being in a bed again so soon after having to rough it in the woods for a few days, yet he couldn't deny he liked the feeling of bedcovers and warmth.

He felt Max fidget slightly and looked down at her, unable to keep a smile off his face as she nuzzled deeper into his chest and let out an almost silent sigh. He tightened his other arm around her as he trailed the other through her hair.

It was good to see her sleeping peacefully.

Kissing her forehead, he kept his eyes on her as his brain whirred. Yeah, she acted like it didn't matter to her that she didn't have parents, that him finding his was unmatched awesomeness, but he was pretty sure she was hiding what she was really thinking. Mainly because she skimmed over that when he'd asked her if she was ok.

That meant she was anything _but_ ok.

Fang closed his eyes and nestled into Max's hair, taking a long scent of the shampoo smell that still lingered. They were being treated like guests. The spare room was now his, or 'theirs' if they both decided to leave again. It was kind of small, the double bed taking up most of the space and dressers occupying the rest of it. But Fang wasn't complaining.

It was comfier than a tree. _That's_ what mattered.

His hand settled around Max's shoulders as he began to get pulled into dreamland, finding it increasingly difficult to keep his eyes open for even a few minutes at a time. The evening had been so draining on the both of them, it wasn't a surprise they were both falling asleep despite it being ten thirty.

At ten twenty three, Fang's eyes fluttered shut for the last time.

*~*~*~*

Max blinked sleepily as the sunlight crept through her eyelids, rousing her from one of the most restful sleeps she'd had in a good week and a half. She buried her head further into Fang's chest in a futile attempt to sleep longer, but it seemed to only wake her up more.

"Mm…" Max stretched her limbs as much as Fang's embrace would allow, stifling the yawn that followed barely a second afterwards. Softly and very slowly, she removed Fang's arm from around her shoulders and rolled off his other arm, stretching properly before sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

They hadn't spoken about what Fang was going to decide. Max didn't want to end up staying his decision with her input, so had left him to mull it over himself. She glanced back at him as he curled his arms around a section of the duvet, holding it close. She had to bite her lip and hold back a giggle.

He looked adorable.

Max pulled herself to her feet and padded across to the door, hoping the bathroom would still be free. The nightdress she'd borrowed from Hayley that _should _come to her knees hung about her mid thighs, simply because Max was really too tall for Hayley's clothes, but borrowing something from his mum seemed so…wrong.

She peeked out into the corridor, noting everyone else's bedroom doors were still firmly closed against the world. Max tiptoed across the landing carpet to the other side of the hallway, flinching every now and then as a floorboard complained.

Giving the bathroom door a gentle push, she snuck a look around the door and smiled when she found it was empty. She'd beaten the rest of the brood. Max slipped inside and locked the door, hoping they didn't have a limited amount of hot water as she turned the shower on.

*~*~*~*

The most delicious smell roused Fang from his slumber. Cinnamon waffles floated up the stairs and stroked his nostrils, and best of all, they didn't smell burnt. He blinked sleepily a few times before sitting bolt upright and doing a quick three-sixty, wondering where the hell he was.

Then he remembered, and let out a sigh.

Pushing off the covers he stood and stretched his arms above his head. He felt like he'd slept for a year. It was a good feeling, being revitalised. It was a feeling he could get used to. Though he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to sleep anywhere near as well without Max.

"That's a point…" He looked about the room, but Max was nowhere to be seen. A towel was flung over where her clothes had been last night. He couldn't help but smile as he pulled on his shirt, walking over to the towel and picking it up. As he expected, it was soaking wet.

Max and her showers. Seriously.

As he padded down the hall, he wondered if you could get rehab clinics for people addicted to hot showers. It probably wasn't a major condition with people in the normal world, they just paid a higher water bill or something. That was probably a good enough deterrent.

Fang flopped the towel outside the door before heading down the stairs two at a time, following the enticing smell still tickling the back of his throat. Slowing his step, Fang padded softly into the doorway of the kitchen and peeked inside.

Barbera was at the stove, a pile of ready made waffles next to her as she heated them through and piled them onto plates. Anna and James were squirting large amounts of syrup and things all over their plates, laughing at something they were saying at the same time. Max was seated at the far end of the table, not getting involved with the other kids as she happily stuffed her face with waffle after waffle.

"Hey Charlie," Barbera greeted him in the best way anyone ever could. With a plateful of waffles in her hand. He gave her a small, thankful smile as he took the plate from her. She smiled back and turned back to the stove, at which point Fang slid quickly into the seat next to Max and commandeered the last of her syrup covered waffle.

"Hey!" She complained with her mouth still full, turning to see him smirking his face off as he swallowed.

"Mornin'." He replied as he squirted syrup all over his own waffles, tilting his head to the side as the stuff streamed out and covered his breakfast with ease. "Take it we're leaving after breakfast?"

"We?" Max queried as she downed half the juice in front of her, trying to hide the happy smile attempting to play on her lips. Staying impartial was hard. "You've decided what you're doing?"

Fang caught her gaze as he chewed his waffles thoughtfully, already spearing a second piece before he swallowed and held it up to inspect it. Max raised an eyebrow, waiting for him t respond, but instead he just chomped the next piece of waffle on his fork and speared another piece. This time, when he swallowed again, Max pressed for an answer.

"Well?"

He had the waffle barely inches from his mouth, but he looked up at her as he dropped the fork back to his plate. Sucking off a little syrup that had found its way to his fingers, Fang then pressed one of those to the necklace around her neck, still holding her eyes with his own intense stare.

"Not for a girl. Not for parents. And certainly not for waffles. Remember?"


	21. Itexicon: It Owns Your Shirt

**Whoop. This chapter was much less forced and more flowy than the last one. You can tell because there's less random cut scenes and huge time skips. MY BRAIN IS BACK! ...kind of, yaaaaay!Though I dun like how this chapter ended, but you cant win them all, right?  
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**Kind of sad though, I only got one review ='( Though that chapter kind of sucked, I guess, so you should feel bad about not reviewing. But it maded me sad before my uber shift at Subway. S'ok, i got a free cookie. Its all good ^^ Ah, nice, short AN. =P  
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**Strawberry Shortcake: You get a whole review section to yourself! =D Thanks for reviewing. And lol on skipping to the end to read the last line first. I've done that a couple of times, I have to admit. Shame I didnt leave him undecided til this chapter isnt it? =P And I should really talk to Crazy about handing out crystal balls...like, _not_ to lol.**

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**Part 20**

Max sat in the back of John's people carrier, trying as hard as she could _not_ to scream piercingly loud and tear a hole in the side of the car. Yeah, car's weren't her favourite form of transport, and usually they were a fine way to go if you needed to be inconspicuous.

But stuck in the very back of a full seven-seater? Not so much.

Fang's hand was gripping hers as tightly as she gripped his, yet he looked a heck of a lot more composed, and less like he was going to tear the bodywork apart to get some fresh air. Anyone not having their fingers squished by his intense grip would probably think he was totally at ease.

"Not far now, just a few more minutes!" Barbera yelled from the front seat, trying not to be drowned out by the radio. Apparently they had a system for choosing what went on the CD player. Today was Anna's turn, so interestingly squishy and fairy tale sounding classical music was blaring out of the speakers.

"OK!" Max managed to swallow the growing scream and shout a reply, no idea if it was heard over the noise everyone else in the car must be hating. Minus Annabelle of course.

When Fang had told them he was going with Max, Barbera had asked them what they were going to do. He said they needed to go to a library or something, do some research. Instantly poor John was offered up to give them a ride into town before dropping the kids off at school, since they'd missed their bus. John had simply stayed quiet, face as still as ever. One Fang was bad enough and, though this bloke had a few lapses Fang wouldn't have, he certainly had the non-emotive thing down to a pretty fine art.

Guess horrible upbringings fine tune genetics, eh?

At first Max had told him to decline, tell them that they'd fly there, but of course they didn't actually know where the library was. They could go and find it, but likelihood is they wouldn't find it very easily. Since they found the last one by chance and all.

So here they were, stuck in the back two seats of this massive car, listening to the Barbie Nutcracker sequence on repeat for twenty minutes, barely resisting tearing at the cars interior with their teeth. The joys of little sisters.

The car turned another corner and pulled to a stop outside a small, rundown looking little place. John turned off the engine and grabbed his keys, popping the boot on his way back. He barely had time to lift the lid before the teens were scrambling out, taking in huge gulps of fresh air and savouring the sudden lack of music.

After composing himself, Fang leaned back into the boot and pulled out the two bags Barbera had packed for them. They had no idea what was in them yet. They hadn't been given them until halfway through the journey, when she remembered she had them in the front with her. Struck him it couldn't hurt to take them. After all, anything they _didn't_ need that took up space could be discarded easily without her knowing.

"Will you visit?" As he pulled his head out from under the boot, Fang caught the gaze of his father. His face was still impassive, no kind of anything on his features as he asked a usually emotionally-charged question. Behind the façade, he could pick out a little sadness floating in his eyes.

Fang nodded once, and a half smile spread across both their faces.

They both stood there like that for a few seconds, smiling at each other with their hands shoved in their pockets. Then they broke apart, John quickly slipping back in the driver's seat and Fang hopping up onto the curb to join Max, who was studying the library inquisitively.

It was a complete opposite of the one in New York, which looked like it belonged somewhere more up market. This one looked like a crack house, to put it nicely. The windows were dirty with what looked like centuries of dust and grime, the roof was in a dire need or a re-tile. Even the people going in and out looked like they needed a shower and a good shave.

Even the women. Max shuddered slightly.

She turned around when she heard her name shouted, smiling slightly and raising a hand to wave at the family shouting their goodbyes in the car. Fang shuffled up next to her, his hands still deep within his pockets and he smiled a small smirk. The car stated to pull away, and the shouting got loader as they attempted to keep saying goodbyes despite the distance between them getting wider and wider.

Annabelle was crying as she yelled her goodbyes to 'Charlie'.

The car turned right at the next corner, the shouting suddenly stopping as the car got out of sight. She dropped her arm back to her side and watched the corner of the street for a few seconds longer, like she expected them to come back to say goodbye again, before turning to look at Fang.

He was still staring up the street as well, the slight smirk having fallen from his face as he thought something through. He seemed to jump back to reality, his eyes watching Max as she stooped to pick up the bags. Slipping one onto her shoulder and holding the other out to him, which he took, holding it by the straps rather than wearing it.

"So," she stated, nodding her head slightly towards the library. "Parents." He smirked, adjusting his grip on the bag before falling into step with her as she continued. "That was unexpected."

"Yeah…" He replied softly, his mind wandering back to his parents, his family, who'd just driven away from them. He hadn't expected the lead they had to get them _anywhere._ Now they had a home to return to when all the other crud had hit the fan and been shovelled onto a manure pile. It was kind of comforting, to know you had someone waiting for you to get home.

He took a side-glance at Max. She seemed to be looking at he library in front of her as they slipped through the already open door, but he knew that glazed look in her eyes. She was either thinking about something, or having a silent argument with the voice inside her head.

Both options about just as likely, but he decided it was probably the first one.

In fact, she had been thinking about Fang's parents. They seemed decent people, a nice home with a nice family. They also seemed genuine, not like they were trying too hard to fill a role, like Anne had. _And_ they said they would be happy to take her in, a girl they'd only just met. It was almost unbelievable, yet she had a good feeling about them.

_**You shouldn't always follow your instincts, Max.**_

She uttered a silent groan as hey got to the front desk, letting Fang step forwards and ask about using a computer. She was beginning to doubt the run down shack of a library even had any, but then she spotted just two tucked into a particularly dingy corner.

_I Don't _always_ go with my instincts._ She glared at a book on the shelf nearest to her, the spine tatty and well read.

_**You seem to do things just to go against my suggestions, Maximum. Even if it makes sense. Its not a good idea.**_

_I spoke to Sam and Anne, didn't I? Who, by the way, I was right about._ She thought back as she glanced over at Fang, watching him sign a log book for one of the computers. _See? I do follow your suggestions._

_**When you see no other option, yes.**_

_Is there a reason for this mind intrusion, or should I start ignoring you? _Fang looked at her and furrowed his brow slightly. She mouthed 'Voice', and his face reset itself to its old, unreadable flatness as he nodded towards the computers. She nodded once, pushing herself off the bookcase she was leaning on to follow him.

_**Just making sure you're back on track. Parents were not part of the plan. You have to focus on saving the world.**_

_I couldn't give a flying monkey-descendant what your plans were. Fang had a right to meet his parents. _Max's footsteps became heavier and slower as she argued with the voice in her head, glaring in the hope it could interpret that in her mind.

There's a statement that makes you sound _really _sane.

_**You could have put them in danger.**_

_I…didn't think of that…_ She stopped dead half way to the computers, her eyes unfocused on Fang as he slipped into a chair and typed in the login the woman had written on a piece of paper for him. They hadn't even considered they were being watched, being tracked.

Her eyes floated to her forearm, where the chip was, and she cursed under her breath.

_**That's why parents weren't part of the plan. **_Did the voice just sound particularly venomous then? If it wasn't usually as flat and monotone as boring lecturers, Max might have dared to say it was. Even so, now wasn't the time to be making fun of the little guide in her head.

_Are they safe?_

_**Go with your instinct Maximum.**_

_I hate you. _Fang looked up at her and raised an eyebrow, but she shook her head before stepping the last twelve feet between them, grabbing a spare chair along the way and plonking right next to him.

"S'up?" He asked, his calm and intense eyes boring into the side of her head as she watched the screen flicker into life. She took a deep, deep breath and closed her eyes. Fang raised an eyebrow again, tilting his head slightly as he continued to stare at her.

"Max?"

How do you tell your boyfriend his parents may now be dead because of a chip in your arm? Its not something normal teens have to tell their better halves, and even Max had been pretty sure it wasn't something she was ever going to have to say.

Jeez, she hated her life right there.

"I…I'll run the search on Itex," she half whispered as she scooted right forwards in front of the computer screen. Fang slid his chair to the side, an eyebrow still raised as he examined the back of her head with care. "You go check on your parents. Make sure you aren't followed."

"Ma-"

"Just do it, ok?" She couldn't bring herself to look at him, in case she burst into tears, or he burned her soul with a death glare when he figured out why. He didn't move. When she took a slight glance at him he had his arms folded across his chest, a defiant look on his face.

"Tell me why."

His face was set in stone, not an emotion passing though the stiff jaw façade. In his eyes, confusion washed over every other one. She saw a tiny hint of fear and had to look away. She didn't answer, but instead rubbed the part of her arm where the chip was embedded. Fang furrowed his brows a second, thinking, then shot out of his chair without saying a word, making for the exit. Max watched him leave, sprinting out the door to find a secluded place to take off, before she took a shaky breath.

If his parents were hurt, she'd never forgive herself.

*~*~*~*

When an hour had elapsed, Max began to get anxious. Would he stay out this long if nothing had happened? She should have gone with him, made sure he didn't get outnumbered by flying wolves or something. An image of Fang, laying lifeless by that tree in his parent's garden, sent a shudder through her body.

_**Focus, Max. Go with the flow and focus on your objective.**_

_Focus my [insert swear word of your choice here] bird behind! _She mentally yelled, almost shaking. _He's Fang! I can barely manage this with him, let alone without him!_

_**He's expendable. You are not. Focus.**_

That was the point Max lost it. She was glad Angel wasn't around to witness the seemingly endless spiel of swear words being thought to blot the voice out at that statement. She hurled mental abuse at it for a good five minutes, her hand gripping the flimsy plastic chair arm so hard it cracked.

She took a few moments to seethe. The voice had gone quiet, seemingly battered into oblivion by her steam of curses and abuse. Max let out a long, shaky breath as she composed herself, finally relaxing her hand on the arm of the chair.

Fang was _not_ expendable.

Turning her attention back to the screen in front of her, Max selected another lump of text and sent it to the printer. She'd found so much information on the place she wasn't sure if she should be happy or incredibly depressed.

Itex turned out to be a shortened name for Itexicon, an already international company with headquarters in Germany. Google maps confirmed it was a hell of a long way away from where they were now, but there was a branch of it here in the US. Somewhere near Miami, probably a few days fly at the most away from where they were now.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she span her chair around as fast as its rusty cogs would allow, almost whacking her legs into the side of Fang's. Her heart did a small flutter, glad to see him again. Problem was, his face gave _nothing_ away.

"They're fine." He said gently, watching the relief fall over her face as she crumpled slightly in her chair. He pulled up a chair and settled slightly behind her, resting his chin on her shoulder after she swivelled back to face the screen. "What you find?"

"What _didn't _I find would be a better question," she replied, flipping through all of the tabs she had open on the place. "They dabble in everything, from computers and NASA to food and stuff. My shirt even had their logo on the label."

"Seriously?" He leant a little closer to read the current page, an information fact sheet on the company with overall details. An address was written at the bottom, along with an email address to make a date to be taken around for a guided tour.

"Basically, we're screwed." Fang turned to look at her, catching her eyes with his own, intense, searching ones.

"That's not the Maximum attitude I love and adore," he mumbled, a small smirk gracing the corner of his mouth as she looked away, a slight pink straining her cheeks, and chuckling as he wrapped his arms around her middle and pecked her cheek. "So, Miami. I hear they have good beaches."

"Will you try not to die on one this time?" Max asked, turning her head very slightly to look at him. She smiled softly as he creased his brow, pretending to consider it. She raised a hand to his cheek and tilted his head back downwards, pressing her lips to his for barely a second. His eyelids fluttered shut, remaining so for a moment longer after she pulled away before he opened them, his piercing brown eyes staring back into hers as a small smile curved the corner of his lips.

"Depends. Do I get kisses if I die?"

"No. You wouldn't be able to feel them anyway," Max laughed before resting her head against his shoulder. She closed her eyes as he kissed the side of her head, feeling him rest his cheek against where he kissed. They sat in silence for a minute or so, enjoying the silence of the library they'd soon be leaving. Fang twirled them in their chairs a little and kissed her ear, whispering ever so softly into it afterwards.

"Dying's last on my to do list then."


	22. FAXcoated Drama

**Yay. I got my writer's flow back. S'all good. Though the bunnies in my head have been playing about with the original story plan, so it's going to change a little bit, but not massively, from the original way i was going to write it. This scene i wasnt entirely sure I was going to include...but i figured i should because of the FAXness potential Strawberry Shortcake pointed out. And I do love writing faxness.**

**I dont have time to edit the crud out of this one, because I wrote it last night and this morning, and I'm about to go out with a friend, so I've only re read it about four times or something, and not as a whole, flowing piece of prose. I hope you like it.**

**Please R&R. I miss my long ANs.  
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**Strawberry Shortcake: Because you asked for it, here's the scene =3 I hope you like it anyway. And lol. Wow. It made me smile to read that. I'm glad you love it so much =3**

**Eyeliner Vampire: Unfortunately I lack the originality to be an actual writer, or I'd consider giving it a shot. And I was gunna do _something_ off with his father, but not quite a Jeb thing =P have to keep reading and see.**

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**Part 21**

Max was annoyed, to say the least. They'd been flying towards Miami for the majority of the day, coming up in some coast just a little way into the distance before a large expanse of ocean. That wasn't why she was annoyed.

She was annoyed at the voice in her head.

If that didn't make sense, you haven't been paying attention. She was angry at it because it had gotten her hyped up about Fang's parents being in danger. She was annoyed because it had scared the living crap out of both her and Fang, even if he didn't say anything about it. She was peeved because it wasn't answering her when she called.

Sure, it didn't come when she called it. It _never_ did. But this time she was burning to have a shouting match with it, simply because she felt like she was going to explode from all the thoughts in her head. She wanted to shout at something.

Just not Fang.

He was watching her carefully, had been since they left the library. He knew she was obviously bottling something up inside her. Either it was the voice, or a bucket load of thoughts she didn't want to go into with him. It upset him slightly, that she didn't confide in him.

Taking a glance out ahead of them, he noted there was a beach coming up on their side of the mass of water. Would be a good place to stop for the night, if they could find an alcove or something nearby. He turned his attention back to Max and assumed she'd be thinking along the same lines, considering it was beginning to get dark.

Actually, she was thinking about turning tail and going back to the city. She was missing having a bed to sleep in and a shower to jump into. They could stay in a hotel for a few days, kick back and have a little break from all the crud that seemed to surround them 24/7.

Like a small vacation.

_**Stay on track, Max. Detours will cost you.**_

_Welcome back voice, I'm _so_ glad to see you!_

_**You cant see me, Maximum.**_

_Was that sarcasm? _Max furrowed her brows. It might be possible for the voice to be sarcastic without actually putting any feeling into it. But it didn't usually show any kind of emotion at all, so she wasn't entirely sure.

_**Stick to the plan, Max. Go to Miami.**_

_So what if I don't want to go to Miami, huh? Say I want to go to that Germany place, or back to New York?! What can you o about it?_

Silence. Score. Shame it didn't last long.

_**Then you'll fail, the world will crumble.**_

_That's another thing I'm sick of. I'm not just here to save the world! I have a life! A really crappy one, but I have one. I can do whatever the hell I want with it!_

_**Max. **_She swore she heard it sigh. _**Do you want to save the world?**_

_Fang is my world, and he's safe and sound._

_**Then you give us no other choice.**_

_Hah! I knew tha- …wait what?_

Silence. _Aww Crap._

Now she wished the voice had never come back. She swung her head round to look at Fang, noticing for the hundredth time today he was watching her closely, a look of concern on his face. He raised an eyebrow as her face snapped round to watch him.

That was it. She'd had enough.

"Meet you on the beach." Before he had time to object, she'd closed her eyes and channelled her new power into shooting forwards at high speed. All he could do was blink and try to remember to flap as she covered a five to ten minute flight distance in less than a second, dropping down onto the beach an out of sight.

When he finally got out of his mindless blinking, Fang's brain was going haywire. That was a red flag added to the many other orange warning ones that said Max was anything but ok. He moved his shoulders powerfully, pumping faster to gain a little more speed.

He could cover that distance in five minutes if he tried, and that's what he was going to do.

*~*~*~*

Max landed awkwardly from her high speed stint, skidding on the sand and almost getting a jaw full of it when she tumbled forwards. Cursing under her breath she pulled herself to her feet, looking up for a few seconds to see Fang was a black dot, slowly getting bigger. Still a long way away. That was good.

Kicked at the sand aimlessly, taking out her anger at the voice on the poor grains in front of her. She kicked a rock with a tiny scream of anger and watched it fly out and splash into the ocean, almost as far away from her as Fang had been. Her fists clenched and unclenched.

What did the voice mean, they had no other choice? Was the voice just working for Itexicon, trying to pull them in and get them back in cages? How the hell did the erasers always find them so easily? Were the school tracking them by that stupid chip in her arm?

More importantly, would they hurt Fang?

She felt like she was on the verge of tears, but fought them back furiously. She flopped on her backside and cradled her head in her hands, screaming to her palms until her throat burned as she rocked backwards and forwards slowly.

Saving the world, trying to keep her and Fang safe, it was all just too much. Did the voice come from that chip in her arm? Was she simply a massive tracer without even knowing it, leading Fang into ambush after ambush?

She looked through her fingers, was still fighting back tears with aplomb when she saw it. A piece of shell. It looked like it had been stepped on, either by her or someone else who came to the beach. But one side was sharp. Could cut through skin…

Without really thinking, her brain clouded by everything it was trying to comprehend at once, she reached down and picked the shell up off of the floor. Running a finger over the sharp edge, she flinched when it punctured her skin with ease, a small droplet of blood running down it.

She could use it. She could get the chip out. They would be free.

The pain was incredible as she plunged the shell into her arm, sawing and hacking at her skin almost manically. Soon the pain was clouded over by the overwhelming desire to keep going, to get deeper and deeper, get the chip out. She didn't care about anything else, her whole focus on removing that damn thing and being able to throw it into the sea.

"Max!" Fang's voice was miles away to her as blood flooded over her hand, down her arm, filling the small indent in the shell. She didn't even notice him landing with a thump, running towards her as he withdrew his wings.

She barely even acknowledged him when he knocked the shell put of her hand. She held it up in front of her, stared at he blood soaked hand stupid for a few seconds. Then the pain in her arm hit her all at once, and she squeezed her eyes shut and let out a small cry.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Mr. Cool and Collected was shouting, anger echoing in every word as he unzipped his bag and rummaged through it. Max turned her head to look at him, suddenly shuddering from the pain in her arm, the realisation of what she was doing. He caught her gaze as he pulled a tiny bottle of antiseptic from his bag.

Anger. Fear. Max flinched slightly before he'd even unscrewed the bottle. That look hurt.

"I want it out…" she muttered, still not completely back to reality, her mind clouded. Fang tore a tiny bit of his shirt off and drowned it in antiseptic, eliciting a cry from Max when he pressed it to her wound, wiping away the blood.

"So you bleed to death? Nice plan Max. _Nice_ plan" She looked away as he cleaned her arm, unable to look him in the eyes. She was shaking as he wrapped a bandage around her arm, tears threatening more than ever. He was being heavy handed, holding her still more than just holding her arm. His anger echoed in every pull of the bandage.

"You don't understand…"

He taped the bandage on before taking her by the shoulders. He was stronger than her, by miles, and used this knowledge to twist he top half to face him. She had her head turned away from him, barely letting him see anything but hair. One hand still firmly on her shoulder, the other cupped under her chin and pulled it round, an action she didn't resist.

He studied her face with his sharp eyes, taking in the hopeless expression that echoed in her eyes. Fear, worry, concern. Just about every negative emotion swam in her eyes and in her features. Tears were forming in the corners of her eyes, she was shaking like a leaf.

"I can't understand," his voice was softly. His grip on her shoulder got looser as he gently stroked under her chin. "If you don't tell me what's wrong."

_That _was the point Max's resolve crumpled, and tears fell.

She felt herself instantly pulled into Fang's neck, the hand that had been on her shoulder gently running through her hair as it stroked the back of her head. The other found its way around her and pulled her forwards, pressing her torso to his as he whispered soothing things in her ear.

It made her cry harder. She'd just scared the crap out of him and he was more concerned with making sure _she_ was ok. Nevertheless, she crumpled into his lap, her head slipping down into his chest as she whimpered and hiccupped her way through another embarrassing round of tears.

Slowly it degenerated into sniffles and the occasional whimper, Fang's arms still holding her in his lap. She dared a glance up at him, meeting his dark eyes as they studied her again, concern floating within them as he stroked the back of her head softly.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she leant her cheek into his chest, curling up tightly in his lap. She felt him take in a deep breath before resting his cheek on her head, rocking them both very slowly. Neither of them said anything for a good few minutes, not sure what to say, not wanting to break the silence.

"You can tell me anything." It was Fang who finally shattered it, lifting his head from hers as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, the other still firmly around her middle. "You don't have to do this alone."

She looked up at him, his calm and collected face plastered on like usual. His eyes were soft, concerned. She was getting kind of fed up with that look. All the same, she knew he'd never stop giving it to her.

"Do what alone?" she queried as he studied her yet again, taking in her swollen eyes and tearstained, red cheeks. She looked fragile, broken. Like she was made of glass. He gently stroked across her shoulders as he kissed her head, whispering as he pulled his lips away.

"Everything." He kissed her head again before continuing. "Whatever is on your mind, you can tell me. We'll deal with it together. I cant lose you." He pulled away and looked into her eyes. More tears seemed to be trying to surface, but she was blinking them back as she took it all in, resting her head back against his chest.

She heard him let out a single, small sound like a laugh and looked up at him, furrowing her brows at the slight smirk on his face. It remained as he took a gaze up at the sky, watching it darken. Looks like they'd be sleeping on the beach tonight.

"What's funny?" He glanced back down at Max, the confusion on her ace making his smile widen just a little more. He readjusted her in his lap before laying her down on the sand, laying next to her and pulling her into his chest. She curled up slightly, feeling like she was going to drop off really quickly after that episode. Fang gently stroked the back of her head, whispering as to not wake her up too much as he replied.

"Just, you told _me _not to die on a beach. Looks like I should have lectured _you._"


	23. Replaced

**Hehe. The word document for this story is exactly 63,000 words. I unno how I managed to end it like that, but meh, s'funneh -w- So, this is today's update. it actually flowed reasonably easily today, though I reqrote some of it and managed to add another two pages to it while doing so. Whoo. Hopefully it isn't all random gibberish and you like reading it =P**

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**Strawberry Shortcake: My laptop's been having a few wibble fits recently. Maybe they're all in on it oO; Glad you enjoyed the chapter, and thanks for the review =3**

**Midnight Shadows: Lol. I'm glad you liked it. Many thanks for the review. Im lucky for the fact i does have my own Fang, shame his in another bloomin' _country_ right now...**

**Eyeliner Vampire (22): I'd love to write a book -w- shame i dont seem to have the ideas though.**

**(20) Maybe he had an incredible dislike of beaches for some reason. Like, a shark ate his ice cream once. Or he hurt himself on a shell. Though the sunburn idea is awesome XD**

**Crazy (20): No worries, stuff happens unfortunately. Thats an early school start oO; doesn't restart here til September**

**(21): Yeah, I'm not cruel enough to hurt his family. It kinda needed to be done to justify the next drastic scene =P**

**(22) Yeah. I'd probably be curled up in a ball in a dark room, rocking backwards an forwards mumbling about bagels or something. Maybe chickens. I'm not entirely sure. It wouldn't be pretty XD Thank you for all your reviews.

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**Its good to be able to make long ANs again. I missed these -w- thanks alot for allll of your reviews, its good to see people still read it XD Please keep reviewing, it helps my fingers get a wiggle on ^^

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**Part 22**

"Remind me _why_ we're waiting," Ari growled, lowing his binoculars to look at his father. Jeb had his own pair of binoculars, which he didn't bother to lower while he answered.

"Because we don't want to wake Max," his voice was its usual calm, barely emotive monotone. Ari glared. Max was so friggen' _special_, the light of his life. Anger boiled up inside him as he waited for his dad to even look at him, but he didn't.

Ari put the binoculars back to his eyes. Ahead of them, Max was curled up on the sand, sleeping like a baby. She'd be a sitting duck if it wasn't for Fang being still awake, even if he did seem to be watching her more than his surroundings.

He took another glance at Jeb. He hadn't been as cool as a cucumber barely an hour ago, when Max had almost killed herself digging a shell into her arm. He'd panicked, barking orders to have medics on standby and prepare equipment to try and repair the damage.

Looks like he'd underestimated the back up bird, who fixed it all up.

"You really think she's not going to notice?" Even his usual voice was scratchy, like a growl in itself. He threw himself down against the rock they were hiding behind, dropping the binoculars onto the sand. Jeb finally took his own away from his eyes, taking a long look in the bird kids' direction before turning to look at his son.

"Maybe she needs to notice," he said simply as he balanced the binoculars on to of the rock, turning to head back to the van. Ari frowned. What was the point of training the guy if Max was _supposed_ to notice the difference?

Shaking his head, he leant is back against the rock to rest his eyes for a second. Tracking these bid brains wasn't as easy as they'd been assured it would be. They covered much more distance flying in a short time than they did in their van, on the roads. All that time on the road was exhausting, not to mention frustrating.

They hadn't even been allowed to attack Fang's parents. There went a fun pass time.

Striding towards the van, Jeb had to use both hands to yank the sliding door away from its resting place and pull it open. Inside, six pairs of eyes raised from the blackjack table squished in with them. Five of them hoped he was about to give the order to jump the bird kids and kick the crap out of them, one set just wanted to be set free.

The owner of the more docile set of was motioned out, and he scrambled out happily, glad to be away from all the dog breath and snarling in his general direction. He wasted no time in throwing the door shut, doing it easily with one arm, before meeting Jeb's gaze. He had a small smile on his lips, his face otherwise unreadable.

"How are you doing?" He had a clipboard in one of his hands, a pen in the other, as he asked the question. It sounded kind of condescending to the boy, considering what he was about to do. He felt sick with nerves, excitement, just about any emotion you could think of under the sun.

But he simply shrugged, and Jeb's smile grew wider.

"Good, staying in character," he mumbled as he wrote something on the clipboard. "Watch your face though. It's not saying straight, like we practiced."

The boy stiffened his jaw and buried his hands deep within his pockets, watching Jeb continue to write down notes on the clipboard. Maybe this was going to be harder than he thought, though how well could Max know someone so silent as Fang? Probably not very well. He just had to stay quiet, say very little and make hints until his mission was complete.

The difficult bit was going to be playing the 'caring boyfriend' part. He hadn't been trained in the area, had _no _idea how he should be acting to show he cared. How much did she tolerate? Would she want attention 24/7, or just when they were sleeping, like the cuddling Jeb had said?

Then was the other butterfly in his stomach. He'd get his first kiss.

"Fang," his head snapped up, out of thought and back to Jeb. He instantly made sure his jaw was set, his eyes were soft and non emotive as he studied his teacher carefully.

"Go help Ari keep an eye out for an opening," his clipboard was back to being held by his side, the pen in a pocket in the front of his lab coat. He never seemed to take the damn thing off, maybe it was a requirement of his job. Fang2 nodded before walking quietly over to Ari, trying to be unnoticeable as possible.

This was it, the evening he'd get to put all his lessons to the test. He felt like he was going to puke.

*~*~*~*

Fang could feel her chest rising and falling rhythmically under his arm. It had been for a little while now, which thankfully meant she was getting some sleep. He tightened his arm around her middle and wriggled up a little closer, lightly kissing the back of her head.

He was supposed to be on watch, but his attention kept getting drawn back at Max. He'd almost lost her today, when she'd decided taking a shell to her arm would be a good idea. He'd shouted at her, scared her as well, but he didn't mean to.

He was just so friggen' scared.

He had a family now. Maybe that was Max's reasoning for him not caring if she died. He didn't feel the same way. She was his world, the last thing left that he _knew_ he could trust without any concern. When he'd seen her on the beach, with blood running down her arm, his stomach had flipped over, his heart was racing.

She'd looked so out of it, so confused. He had no idea what kind of stuff was running thought her head, because she never shared it with him. If it meant she wouldn't try and hack her arm off and sever vital arteries in the process, he'd happy help her shoulder some of the burdens floating around in her head.

He fidgeted again, trying desperately to ignore his need to go to the bathroom. He didn't want to leave Max for even a second, not just because his brain was panicking she might wake up and do something stupid, but because it was so much warmer pressed against her back than it was to get up and relieve himself.

Ten minutes later, he pulled himself to his feet reluctantly and quickly strode a few steps away from their camp. The whole time his mind was still trailing back to Max. To all the blood that had been running down her arm.

He shuddered as he remembered the helpless look in her eyes, the hopelessness written all over her face as he'd cleaned her up. She'd given up, lost the will to even try and fight. He didn't know why, and he wasn't going to ask until she was stable again, but he hated seeing her like that.

Weak, fragile. It wasn't Max.

He sighed when he'd decided he'd moved far enough away, stopping to rub his temples briefly. He really did wonder how she'd managed to pull off being a leader of five. He was trying to co lead a tiny group of two and it gave him horrendous headaches.

He heard a twig snap and stiffened. It came from his right. Max was to his left. He turned to jump whoever was behind him, but the baseball bat collided with his face half way there. He crumpled instantly, dazed, slipping to blackness as the bat collided with his head again.

What felt like seconds later Fang's eyes opened groggily. He squeezed them shut again as the pain in his head seeped into his consciousness. Blinking hard, he tried to recall what happened. It was a few fuzzy seconds before he remembered the baseball bat. He groaned as another pulse of pain hit his skull, and it was then he first noticed the duct tape across his mouth. His breathing quickened along with his heart rate.

Duct tape was _never _good.

His arms were pulled back behind him, his shoulders feeling stretched out of shape. He tried to move them, to bring them round to the front, but he couldn't. The familiar feel of plastic ties rubbed against his wrists as he tried to pull it apart, but the upper part of his arms were secured by more tape.

Next he tried his legs, stretching them right out. He hit something hard in the process, his heart sinking when it yelped and then growled at him. That meant Erasers. He tried to pull his legs apart, separate them, but they wouldn't budge. Looking down he could see anything, but could feel the tape wrapped tightly around his trousers refusing to budge.

_I'm so screwed._ He threw all his energy into rolling over, to be able to see something more than just blackness, but as the other side of his face hit the gritty carpet he realised he was blindfolded. Especially when a hairy mitt pulled it off.

He blinked stupidly in the half light, now able to see he was inside a van, the side door wide open for him to see out of. That coupled with the duct tape sent panic through his system. He furrowed his brow in concentration as he worked at trying to untie himself, struggling and squirming edging him closer to the open door.

A hairy paw grabbed him and yanked him backwards, the carpet scraping his cheek and making it red. He grunted in frustration and arched his back, trying to hit something with any part of his body. Instead he received a cuff to the cheek, followed by being forced onto his stomach and a heavy body sitting on his lower half.

His nose flared as he glared angrily at the Eraser he could see, one next to his head. It reached down and took a hold of the back of his head, forcing it back round to look out of the open van door. Its fingers squeezed on the bruise from the bat, making Fang have to swallow a yelp as he squeezed his eyes shut.

"Open your eyes," The Eraser sat on his legs took a slash at his back, sending a shudder of pain through Fang's body as he forced himself to open his eyes. His head was pounding as the new wound on his back stung.

And he _still_ needed to use the friggen' bathroom.

"You'll want to see this," the Eraser holding his head sneered, tightening his grip on Fang's head. He was beginning to think he might pass out, but he forced himself to focus on the open doors, as blurry as the outlines of everything were to him.

It was Jeb that strode up to the van entrance, stooping down to be at Fang's level as he studied the bird boy silently. Fang growled as a glare plastered itself on his face. Jeb's mouth quirked up into a silent smile, making Fang thrash a little to try and get a head but in on the guy. The Erasers held him firm, giving him another slash on the back for attempting anything.

"Keep fighting, Fang." He furrowed his brow in confusion, his nostrils flaring in anger as his breath came fast and quick. It was said so softly, Fang almost doubted it had been said at all. He lay dead still staring that the man they used to call 'Father' seemingly a lifetime ago, care and pain echoing in his eyes.

Seriously, what the hell was Jeb on?

After a few more seconds of silence Jeb pulled himself to his feet, giving Fang a reassuring smile before stepping backwards, about twelve feet away from the van's entrance as he motioned to someone off to the side with his head. Fang furrowed his brows again, resuming his squirming despite how many slashed it would get him on the back.

Then another person came into view. And his heart stopped.

He was looking at _himself._ Literally. Right down to the way his bangs hung in front of his eyes and the logo on his shoes. Fang2 smiled wickedly, reaching back emptying Fang's pockets of all that they contained, shoving them into his own.

Fang could help it. His eyes went wide as saucers as panic invaded his system. They were replacing him with a fake Fang, a school drone. What the hell were they planning to do by putting a fake him in his place alongside Max?

Leading her into a trap?

He looked past Jeb and himself, past everything that was happening, to the sand in the distance. Where Max was sleeping peacefully, still curled up like he'd left her. Suddenly he felt hopelessness in his own head as he stopped struggling, receiving a laugh and some jeering from the erasers holding him steady.

He couldn't help her. He just had to hope she figured it out.

"Goodbye," his eyes instantly flicked back to the fake Fang, the smirk on his face angering him once more. He _couldn't _give up, not when Max might be in danger. He squirmed and wriggled, feeling a third eraser press down on his torso and hold him steady. Fake Fang waved once, then went out of sight, the van door sliding shut with a soft thud.

Fang tried to jack knife and push the erasers off of him, but they held him tightly to the floor, his head staring at the now closed doorway. He felt a needle slip into his arm, the cool substance filling his veins, making his word hazy, allowing just a few thoughts before he slipped into a false sleep.

_Please Max…figure it out…_

*~*~*~*

Striding as confidently as he could pretend he was, Fang2 closed the distance between himself and the curled up figure of Maximum Ride. His hands were shaking, the whole thing feeling surreal, like a dream. This was the bane of the school's life, the girl made to stop them completing their goal.

He took one last fleeting glance backwards. Jeb was watching him with his binoculars, barely viable as he peered over the rock they'd been hiding behind for hours that evening. Stuffing his hands deep in his pockets he closed the last of the distance between him and Max, stopping a few feet from her to look at her more closely.

He had to admit, the school had got her genetics right. She was _beautiful_, unless she only looked like this when she was sleeping. Her face was soft and relaxed, her eyes very lightly closed as she slept deeply. Her hair was scattered about her face like a halo. He frowned at the furrowed lined between her eyes.

She worried a lot. No surprise there.

He didn't see what was so special about her. She was in exactly the same boat he, Fang, was. She was an adolescent with wings and no place in the world. Seemingly in way too far over her head until you saw her true colours. Apparently all of her flock had been like that. The ones that were terminated.

_Like Fang is supposed to be._ He shook the thought from his mind. He was due to be terminated himself if this mission failed, and he very much doubted he could live out here on his own after the life he'd had so far. Jeb had taken car of him, and he didn't have any basic survival knowledge. Silently, he cursed. They made sure he had no where to run if he failed.

He realised he'd dropped his Fang act and stiffened his jaw, running his eyes over the girl once more. Hopefully she wouldn't notice any difference between him and the real thing, or it would be really superficial stuff he could gloss over, so she wouldn't think about it too much.

His eyes caught on the bandage on the top of her arm, tinged slightly pink by more blood. Jeb hadn't expected warning that Fang might be used against her to have such a dramatic impact on her. Certainly not make her loose her mind and start hacking at her arm with a shell.

So he had to stop her doing stupid stuff? No problem, he could do that.

He stepped over her, being careful not to jog her ad he pulled his other leg over to her other side. He sat down on the sand, knees pulled to his chest, as he watched her breathing. He'd been told they cuddled at night, seen Fang with his arm around her before he'd made the mistake of getting up and wandering about alone.

Silently he laid on his side, studying her back as he mustered up the courage to shuffle up against her and wrap an arm around her. He froze when he fidgeted slightly against him, mumbling something about an 'Angel' and curling her legs a little tighter to her.

After a few seconds, he wrapped his arm a little more firmly around her, pressing his front against her back. It felt odd, being this close to another person. Jeb and the other scientists barely even touched him, let alone hugged him or anything.

It felt kind of comforting.

He could feel her breathing against him, her heart beating below her skin. He could suddenly see _why _Fang liked to be curled up around her. The sound of another simply being alive next to you was soothing. He curled his legs a little to press them against the back of hers, gently kissing the back of his head as he'd seen Fang do before resting his head on the sand.

Despite the soothing, he couldn't bring himself to sleep. He was too excited. Too nervous. He wondered if the school would notice if he just slipped away into the world and was never heard from again. After all, a life outside of the school, no matter how short, must be better than being terminated inside the place.

He had to complete his mission first, get Maximum Ride into the Institute, then he'd make some plans.


	24. Restraint: It Doesnt Fly

**I'm not a huge fan of how this one turned out. =( brain didn't wanna write anything today apparently, so it felt kind of forced. Sorry if its not that brilliant, I tried to update though, ended up writing the writers block story I have going instead, so that's got half another update added to its length now.**

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**Thanks a lot for the reviews =3 Its appreciated that you manage to get them in there after reading ^^ yeah, Fang2. It fit better with my story than a Max2, considering its Max they need to convince to go to the Institute, and replacing herself might not work to well with Fang alone, considering he's all silent and perceptive and stuff. So, second Fang. Who's awkward. Whoo =P**

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**Part 23**

He didn't mean to, but Fang2 fell asleep as he curled up around Max, his eyes fluttering shut just ten minutes after he settled behind her. It wasn't a feeling he was used to, being curled up against another human being, just simply relaxing. White coats touched him to take blood samples, check his heart rate. Other experiments touched him to cause harm, draw blood.

Jeb only ever hugged him once, after that the only contact was bandaging wounds after training.

Here with Max, he was just…close to her. No side effects, no alternate motives, he was just sleeping close to her. A small tingle of happiness would be floating through his system if he hadn't already floated into dreamland.

He was rudely awaken by a strike to his kneecap a few hours later. He jolted him limbs backwards, his head shooting up searching for his assailant. There was no one there. He did a quick three-sixty, suddenly incredibly aware this _wasn't _the Eraser van, slightly confused he looked down.

Then everything rushed back to him.

_Oh man… _It hadn't been a dream. Here he was, right next to Maximum Ride, being the guy he was trained to imitate. The need to vomit washed over him again his nerves started getting the better of him. His free arm was shaking as he ran it through his hair.

That's when he noticed Max twitching in her sleep, because she gave him a sharp kick to the kneecap again. He pulled his legs back with a soft yelp and carefully leaned over her, curiously examining her. Her features were creasing and relaxing randomly, her fists clenching and unclenching as her limbs shook and occasionally kicked out.

She was having a nightmare, something he'd been warned would probably happen at least once while he was with her. Jeb had said to calm her down, but it was now Fang2 realised he was being annoyed vague.

How should he calm her down? There were so many methods running though his head: Wake her up, restrain her, soothe her, just let it run its course and hope for the best.

He decided the last one was probably a no go, considering it isn't really helping her at all, just leaving her to it. Waking her up might result in her attacking him in confusion. After the scars he had to obtain to pretend to be Fang, he was pretty sure he didn't want to gain too many more that fast. He had no idea how you might soothe someone having a nightmare.

It was a clear choice.

He pressed himself right up against her again and wrapped his arms firmly around hers, holding them to her sides. His leg wrapped over hers and held them to his free leg. This worked, she was barely moving now. Fang2 smiled to himself for figuring it out, but his smile didn't last long.

She got more violent, arching and straightening her back as she fought against the attacker in her dream. Fang2 was definitely stronger than her, but he had difficulty restraining her completely. He tightened his hold as her body began to shudder, small whimpers and whines escaping her lips for the better part of ten minutes.

Max's eyes sprang open, her breathing and heart rate through the roof, little beads of sweat on her brow. Her nightmares hadn't been that bad in quite a while now, she shuddered as the memories resurfaced again, then realised she was being restrained.

"Fang..?"

Fang2 sprang off her as if she was red hot, quickly folding his arms in his lap and making sure his jaw was set. She rolled over to look at him, an eyebrow raised as she pulled herself into a sitting position and wiped some sand off of her clothes. Yeah, they cuddled at night. She enjoyed waking up in his arms, but not when it was more like a death hold.

"What were you doing?" She asked, studying his face. She couldn't quite place her finger on what, but something was different with him this morning. Which was weird, since her certainly _looked_ like usual. He seemed kind of off, like he wasn't quite himself.

_Crap, I should have tried the soothing one._ He shrugged slightly and turned away from her scrutinising gaze, staring out over the expanse of water between them and the fastest way to Miami. Max continued to stare at the side of his head for a few seconds before uttering a silent sigh and following his gaze.

He must have been angry at her for yesterday, for the shell. She didn't blame him, she'd completely lost all sight of sanity. Now the stinging in her arm reminded her of how stupid the whole thing had been. She could loose the use of her arm by doing that, worst case scenario bleed to death. She didn't _want_ to die, she had a whole life to live.

It was then she noticed it was dawn.

"Why didn't you wake me up for watch?" She turned her attention back to Fang, the accusing tone matching her facial features. He turned to look at her, a small amount of surprise echoing in his features. He thought he was supposed to stay up all night. He saw Max furrow her brows and quickly set his jaw.

"You needed the sleep." Max snorted and looked away again. He didn't get it. So she wanted to be woken up to do half a shift? She didn't want him to protect her, like Fang always seemed to be doing when they watched her? She made no sense. At all.

Guess he needed to figure it out.

*~*~*~*

As he slipped back into consciousness, a soft groan escaped from his lips and he squeezed his eyes shut tightly. He felt like he'd been hit with a baseball bat, the throbbing in his head blurring his thoughts for a few minutes as he struggled not to fall back unconscious.

The he remembered he _had _been hit by a baseball bat, and his eyes sprang open.

He instantly regretted it, the bright lights of the room almost blinding him, forcing to reduce his eyes to slits as they adjusted to the glare. Very slowly, pain seeped into his dulled brain, causing him to flinch. His face was stinging like where the tape had been ripped off, taking some of his lip with it. He licked the hole, tasting fresh blood. It hadn't been removed long before he woke.

All over his back was throbbing painfully. He could place about six or seven different locations on his back that complained as he tried to arch his back. Eraser scratches from before. He tried his arms, but they were still secured behind him with tape and wrist ties. Looking down he noted his legs had been given the same treatment.

He grunted as he shimmied himself to the back of his dog crate, taking in the area around him while he built up the willpower for the next step. It looked unsurprisingly like the room he'd grown up in inside the School, shiny equipment and an immense amount of whiteness.

The smell of antiseptic hit his nostrils. There was no doubt he was in the bowels of the Institute.

Squeezing his eyes shut he threw all of his energy backwards, using his chest to push himself off of the cold floor. Catching his shoulder between a few bars, he wedged his foot between two on the other side, holding himself in a half upright position for a few seconds. He noted here were no other cages in the room with him, not even empty ones, just equipment and some kind of bubble looking apparatus taking up half of the room.

He decided he didn't want to know and pushed off the bars, flopping backwards into the bars behind him with a thud. Metal squashed against his cuts, but he didn't pay much attention, letting himself slide a little down until he was just leaning on his shoulders. He leaned back, resting his throbbing head against the cold metal as other memories finally seeped into his head.

There'd been another him. The school were really pulling out all the stops on whatever they were planning this time, making a clone of him to trick Max. He smirked slightly to himself, blocking out the lab door opening.

They must think Max is _really_ stupid.

Even after a white coat settled in front of his cage Fang didn't open his eyes, relishing the cool metal pressed against his throbbing head. He took a certain amount of pleasure in the fact he was probably annoying the hell out of them by not growling or swearing at them.

"How are you feeling, Fang?" He frowned, already knowing the soft monotone without opening his eyes. He half opened them, glaring at the guy through his lashes as he took in Jeb's normal, slight smile and unreadable face. Damn smug, deceiving, lying, cheating, devious son of a dog that he was.

He closed his eyes again, taking in a deep breath as another wave of pain hit his skull. He couldn't be bothered to answer Jeb. It was pretty damn obvious how he was feeling right now, emotionally and physically. He bent his knees and pushed himself very slightly up the bars again, having slipped further than he originally intended.

"This is important, Fang." He set his jaw as he listened, almost perfectly sure it was going to be some kind of pointless nonsense he'd be able to forget in a few seconds and focus on resting his head.

"They plan to terminate you."

His eyes sprang open and fell on Batchelder, who's smile had fallen to show a face set much like Fang's own. Unreadable. Uncertain. Fang was almost sure he saw a grimace as he continued to speak. "But they have a few final tests planned. Whatever they pull on you, don't break. Do you understand?"

Fang remained silent. He was due to be decommissioned, what did it matter if he broke down in tears or pulled someone's heart right out of their chest? He'd seen that on TV once. Wondered if he could actually do it, now would be a good time to test it out.

"Fang," Jeb's calm voice snapped him back to reality. "It will buy Max time to get here. You cant show weakness. Do you understa-"

"Batchelder!" The lab door shot open, and Jeb was on his feet within a second, his hands deep inside his lab pockets, his calm façade never lifting. A red faced scientist held the door wide open, another standing behind him with his face contorted into a glare. "You don't have clearance to be in here! You were removed from this project!"

"I was saying a goodbye, since he was my son for a good few years." Jeb looked back briefly when he motioned to Fang's cage, catching the young bird kids eyes, asking him silently what he was going to do. Fang nodded once, discretely. Unnoticeable if you weren't looking for his subtle movements. A small smirk touched Jeb's lips for barely a second, then it fell as he turned to look at the angry faced men once more.

He was escorted out of the room and the door slammed shut, the vibration skittering through Fang's already pounding head, making him flinch. Jeb was so damn _confusing, _he wasn't sure whether to believe Max was coming to get him. But it was his only hope. He stiffened his jaw as the door opened again, scientists talking quietly over clipboards approaching his cage, Erasers on standby.

He'd see Max again, whatever Jeb's motives were.


	25. Realisation

**Hmm...I cant actually remember the last time I updated this ^^; but i didn't have a completed update until today, so sorry if it was a little long between these updates.**

**Aww, no reviews to comment on. Aww well, enjoy =P**

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**Part 24**

As they approached the next beach over the water, Max was certain there was something very wrong with Fang. She wasn't sure what it was or it was something she'd done, but he was acting strangely towards her, and she didn't like it.

She didn't like it at all.

He wasn't flying as close to her as he usually did. Instead, he was flying a little way to her right, and a little down, like he had when they'd had the rest of the flock with them. Her wings pumped in open air, and after so long of flying with wings overlapped she felt naked.

She took a glance down and assessed her right wing man. He still looked like Fang, his shoulders moving powerfully and almost silently as he focused ahead of him. He still had the same hair, the same clothes, the same face.

Then she saw something strange. His facial expression. He relaxed his jaw when he flew, Fang's version of enjoyment as the wind blew in his face, or the feel of the wind beneath his wings. His jaw was relaxed this time, but there was something else.

He had a _massive_ smile plastered across his face.

Max frowned. Even when he was happy he never had a smile like that, it was always that lopsided grin she loved him for. This one was wide and joyous, widening further as he rode an air current. It almost looked maniacal across his usually inexpressive face.

She pulled her eyes away and stared at the advancing beach in front of them. Miami. They'd stop and find some food here, maybe relax a few days while they make a better plan to get into Itex than just 'bust in and hope for the best'. They still had the credit card, they could stay in a hotel while they did so, like a small relaxation period.

But she wouldn't be off her guard, she'd be watching Fang closely. Especially if he kept acting funny. Her instincts were waving a big red flag in front of her, but she couldn't pin point the issue. Maybe she was just being stupid, overcautious.

_**You shouldn't always follow your instincts, Maximum.**_

_Get lost, Voice._ She creased her features in annoyance, glaring at nothing in particular. _There's something wrong here, and I'm going to figure out what it is._

Silence. Max slapped herself a mental high five and smiled into an air current, feeling the refreshing breeze on her face as she let smugness swim through her brain. It was a few minutes later she furrowed her brows again.

_Did the Voice just used reverse psychology on me?_

Below her, Fang2 was grinning like a Mad March Hare. He'd never gotten to fly for more than a few minutes at a time before. The scientists let him try to make sure he could, and then still could before he was shipped out with those ghastly Erasers to track the bid kids. He'd never flown like this before, high up in the clouds, the thinner air making his head light and giddy.

He felt so _alive_.

Maybe they could forget about all this mission crap, forget about going to Itex and just disappear off the face of the planet. If he could convince her he was the real Fang, of course, or she'd never agree to it. It was obvious to _anyone_ the second she figured this out he was getting his butt kicked to yesteryear.

_If she can take me._ He wasn't planning on dropping like a rock if she turned on him. He was stronger, faster on the reflexes. If he had to he'd drag her back to Itex unconscious before he got lost himself, away from the whitecoats and erasers and plans.

The old Fang was gone. If the whitecoats had any sense they'd have destroyed him the second his sorry bird behind was dumped on their doorstep. Of course, scientists wouldn't want to waste an opportunity to experiment, he was probably still alive and kicking. Literally.

If he got out again, it was on their heads.

His smile had fallen as he contemplated all of this, his face set unconsciously into a frown as ideas flowed through his head. Max already seemed a little put out, like she was noticing things that were wrong. He'd have to step up his game and hope she didn't completely click before he convinced her to abandon the Itex idea, or got her in there if she was as stubborn as he'd been warned.

He took a glance up at her, suddenly remembering his Fang act and flat lined his face. She was staring forwards at the beach ahead of them, a slight frown on her face as if she were annoyed with something. He raised an eyebrow just as she glanced down at him. She shook her head slightly before returning to focusing on the beach ahead.

_This acting is harder than it first looks._

*~*~*~*

Fang was dragged out of his solitary confinement to take blood samples and heart rates before, during and after extended periods of exercise. Extended meant three hours on a treadmill with no water, on an empty stomach, imagining the belt was the scientist holding the cattle prod's face.

Not that he had to use the prod, even once. Three hours was nothing after what he'd been through before.

Dumped back in the silence of the white room with a piece of bread, he nibbled it very slowly, trying to make it last until he was removed for something else. At least they had the decency to let him keep his arms and legs free and use the bathroom, even if he had to be friggen' _supervised_.

Water apparently was still a no go area, considering he hadn't been given any with his bread. He was parched, sucking a finger to keep the saliva in his mouth running as he stared at the white room around him. It was odd. He was in a room on his own, no other experiments at all.

Maybe this is where you went to be exterminated.

He shook the thought from his head and moved to his thumb, his other finger getting wrinkled from being sucked too long. He didn't want thoughts like that running though his head, he needed to focus. To survive, and hope what Jeb had said was true. That Max was coming. Even if she wasn't he could try to think of a plan to get out himself.

What seemed like hours after he was left alone he was dragged up yet again, his cage hoisted onto a cart and wheeled through endless twists and turns of white hallways. Fang was beginning to feel sick from the swerving until finally they stopped outside an oppressive looking door.

To his dismay, he was tipped out of his cage into the room behind it, the door slamming and bolting behind him.

He pulled himself to his feet, he did a quick survey of the room. It had two doors, one at each end, and was about twenty feet almost square. One complete wall was a mirror, which was almost painfully obviously a two way observation window. He ignored it completely, cataloguing the sad lack of windows or grates to make an escape from.

Then a buzzer sounded, and the door on the other side of the room flew open. He didn't have any more time to survey as he was launched into a full scale battle with four Erasers, all snarling with glee as they attempted to rip lumps out of him.

Three rounds of buzzer followed by snarling wolves later, Fang was still standing. His chest heaved as he locked his jaw shut, trying not to survey the carnage and blot out the occasional whine and whimper from his fallen adversaries as he stared at the mirror wall. He hoped to hell he was scaring a few of the pale, geeky scientists behind the screen as he assessed the damage.

The major one was the large cut on his face, a reopening and an extension of the scar across his cheek. His eye was also a fantastically bright purple colour, swelling shut as he studied himself. Other than that all the injuries were superficial as he shook from the adrenaline still pumping into his veins. He stiffened his body and looked towards the door as it opened, setting a scowl on his face.

A pleased looking scientist with a clipboard was standing in the doorway, letting three Erasers file in through the gap as he jotted down something on the paper. He handed one of the mutants a syringe filled with a clear liquid before closing the door again.

An Eraser cracked his knuckles as they advanced on Fang. All they had to do was overpower him long enough to get the needle into a vein. Fang repressed a shudder and took up a fighting stance for the seemingly hundredth time that day, snarling right back at them. One flexed his fingers into a fist while the other just cackled. He didn't fight back as they jumped him. It was easier to let them pin him to the wall and plunge the syringe deep in his neck.

He'd need whatever energy he had left for their next experiment.

*~*~*~*

The more she paid attention to him, the more behaviours Max picked out that were odd with her partner. For one, his face seemed to be constantly flicking between being emotive and readable to being as impenetrable as a brick wall.

What's more, his eyes never told her what he was thinking anymore. They used to be her silent entrance to his emotions, his feelings. Now, it was blank. Like when he'd looked at her that week they weren't speaking.

It was frustrating, being unable to see what he was thinking.

On top of that, he seemed to have misplaced all his knowledge of their subtle language. Slightly head nods, eyebrow raises, wide eyes or quick glances. Anything they used to do to communicate without speaking seemed to confuse the hell out of him.

She sat on the wall, her legs crossed as she watched him studying the ice cream sign outside of a small little seaside café thing. He seemed completely stuck for choice, like he'd never had an ice cream before. He liked chocolate, with a wafer cone.

So why was he buying a mint and vanilla one?

_**Following your instincts, I see.**_ If the Voice could be smug, it would probably be having a smugfest right about now. Max shifted on the wall and looked out over the ocean, even with her raptor vision barely able to see the coast they'd flown from.

_Just to clarify, I was _already_ being cautious before you 'suggested' doing so_, she thought back hoping it would catch the tone she was trying to use. _And yes, because he's barely acting like Fang at all._

_**Why do you think that? **_Did she really have to explain it? It could read her thoughts, it must have picked up all the weird little things he'd been doing that weren't normal 'Fang' behaviour.

_**Then what do you think happened?**_

_Haven't a clue, but I plan to figure it out before we dive into Itex._

_**You know Fang better than anyone. **__No duh. __**Look closer and decide.**_

_Look closer? _

The Voice didn't respond, typically. Max turned her head to study Fang, who was now walking back to her with an ice cream in each hand. He had a small smile on his face, but it wasn't a lopsided one like usual, a proper two sided smile as he liked a little bit of ice cream off of the cone, where it had run down.

He studied the cone again, checking for any more, and that's when Max noticed it. Fang, her Fang, had little creases on one side of his face, where he'd done all that half smiling. They were just next to his lip, slightly visible even when he set his jaw.

The creases were gone. His face was as smooth as Angel's butt when she'd still been in diapers.

She furrowed her eyebrows slightly as she looked for any other subtle differences, studying him as he focused on his ice cream. His clothes were remarkably clean for all the nights they'd camped out, since his mum hadn't had time to wash their clothes. It was also kind of odd he didn't have any blood on them from clearing her up last night.

She couldn't see anything else. He was still skinny as a twig, his hair still slightly flopped over his eyes in a cute kind of way. Her thoughts flashed to his odd behaviour, his blank eyes every time she caught him with a set jaw, how frequently his jaw seemed to be relaxed and in a smile.

Then her eyes fell on another detail: His shirt wasn't ripped. She touched the part of her arm that he'd bandaged, feeling the small piece of material squashed under the bindings, holding the antiseptic soaked cloth to her skin.

_This isn't Fang._

_**Bingo.**_

It was then Faux-Fang looked up from his ice cream. Max instantly pasted on a fake smile, shuffling sideways on the wall so he could join her as he handed her an ice cream. He licked away at his own happily, not giving her a second glance. He hadn't noticed her smile was fake.

_Is he in Itex?_

Silence. Max's blood boiled as she licked at her own ice cream, repressing the urge to scream so loud the beach would probably empty in seconds. They'd replaced Fang with a carbon copy. Did they seriously think she wouldn't notice her _boyfriend wasn't acting the way he should be?_

_She wanted to have the boy up against a wall, hand around his neck, demanding to know where Fang was. But, she also wasn't stupid. He was the same build as Fang, right down to the wingspan and toned muscles hiding beneath his clothes. If she tried to overpower him, she'd probably end up unconscious._

_As she finished her cone and licked a few escaped streaks of ice cream off her hand, Max had already decided on her next move. They had to break into Itex and find the real Fang. Every thing else was on hold until he was free and back by her side._

_Then they'd deal with the fake Fang, and whatever the Voice wanted them to find in there_


	26. Reality?

**Ok. I hit major writers block on this one a few days ago, and have been trying to climb the brick wall ever since, but my rope keeps snapping =( So this is the last bit I have written, and its a short one. My apologies for the lack of updates and the ones that will probably ensue over the next few days, as work is eating my sanity til Monday. If you want something to read, Secrets and Sacrifices has a few more updates before I bleed my buffer dry, so do feel free to read that one if you get bored or whatever.**

**Bare in mind its AU though, no wings.**

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**Crazy: I havent decided what happens to Fang2 yet. Killing him does seem a bit harsh, but ya know, my fingers decide whats happening while im actually writing it, so we'll see**

**Rehab: An update for you. Apologies for the dry spell x.x**

**Strawberry: Yeah, i was stood at work making a sammich trying to think of all the little things that she might notice and almost sliced my finger off ^^; I blame Fang.**

**Wanda: Thats the idea of a parody, lol. Thanks for the review, happy you liked the way it was written ^^**

**luh-ver4ever: hehe, i just wanna hug him because he's _Fang._ Just for the awkwardness ;)**

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**Part 25**

Fang opened his eyes. Then did so again. Everything around him was black as night, no shapes or shadows determinable as he stared ahead of him. He became aware of the fact he was flat on his back, arms placed next to his body neatly like he'd been placed there.

Not exactly a comforting thought.

He lifted himself to onto his elbows and gazed around him, furrowing his brow at the seemingly endless expanse of darkness every direction he looked in. His pulse started to quicken as he pulled himself to his feet. He felt nothing as he pressed a hand to the floor and get upright, his feet didn't feel like he was standing on anything. Like he was floating as he gazed around him.

Claustrophobia began to creep into his head as the darkness pressed in on him. Fang took a few steps backwards, but it was completely pointless when the darkness enveloped him from every side. He held up his hand in front of him, turning it over to look at the back.

He could see it clearly, like there was a spot light shining on it.

He looked around him, but all it alliterated was the incredible darkness pressing in on his sanity. He checked the rest of him, glancing down at his trousers and examining his arms. They were all the same, like a spotlight was focused on him, yet he saw no light source and cast no shadow.

He stood completely still and listened, but there was nothing to hear. He stamped his foot on the floor, but it made no sound. He brought his arms out wide and clapped his hands together _hard_, the resulting sound echoed off the indistinguishable walls.

He tried to control his breathing as panic set in. He set his jaw tight as he examined the space around him, trying to figure out where he could be. Wherever he was, it was either the Institute, the School, or if he'd actually had his bird behind hauled into the Itex headquarters itself, these places weren't exactly low tech, his wings and the chip in Max's arm vouched for that.

He deduced he was in some kind of machine, or special room. Though there were no observation windows, no visible cameras, seemingly he'd been dumped in an empty room and left to let his brain devour itself.

Maybe he was _dead_.

His eyes flickered sideways as a shimmer spread through the walls on his right, then flicked his whole head to the left as the same occurred on that wall. He tensed his body as the shimmering spread around to the wall in front of him, his eyes watching it and it flowed across all of the walls, disturbing the darkness until it wrinkled and swayed like disturbed water.

Then came the light. Fang shot an arm up to shield his eyes, squeezing them shut and turning his head slightly when that failed. All around him the light was blinding, breaking through his eyelids and still threatening to burn his retinas. Barely a second later, the light was gone.

And Fang was falling.

He instant shot out his wings, catching himself and pulling him back up a little. He opened his eyes and blinked away the strange colours burned onto his retinas, flapping just enough to keep himself airborne as his eyes readjusted to the normal light.

He could hear birds. Feel the wind under his wings. A chopper's blades. The sun on his skin. Opening his eyes once more, Fang couldn't stop them widening as he looked about him. He was floating above a city, a way off the top of a skyscraper, watching the traffic flow past below. A quick check of the sun's position showed it was approximately midday.

_What the he-_ He dropped instinctively at the sound of a bullet, feeling it whiz barely an inch away from his down turned wing as he did a quick three-sixty. The chopper's blades were louder. He turned his head towards them and instantly dropped another few hundred feet.

Out of the doors of the helicopter leant black clad people, aiming guns at him.

Fang swooped below the chopper and turned up to come up behind it, wasting no time in making a hasty retreat from the area while the chopper's inhabitants tried to find him again. That bullet had singed one of his feathers, painfully. It had some so close to knocking him out of the sky.

If this was his termination, he craved the fluid filled needles all the failed experiments back in his room in the School had the pleasure of.


	27. Reunion

**Luh-ver4ever: Yeah, i was kinda mean to him wasn't I .-.**

**Shortcake: Hmm...i think that block lasted like, three weeks DX But i finally got around it! =D Update for you guys finally.**

**Rehab: I've shot milk out of my nose before. And tea. The latter hurt x3**

**Crazy: Chu wil see, mwehehehehe...**

**Broken Heart: Finally an update. Thanks for reading this one and Fractured ^^

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**Ok, its been forever since I update this one. I'm sorry .-. I hit writers block on everything im writing about a week ago and didnt want to force it, always seems crappy when I force it. So, finally, the next chapter for this one is up, and another for Secrets and Sacrifices will be up soon as well. Hopefully.**

**Fanfiction wouldn't let me upload a new document, so I'm recycling an old one ;)**

**Sorry for the wait, I really am .-. Had specialists and work and feeling like crud, so everything seemed to drain me. Hope you enjoy this chappie ^^

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Jeb stared at the coffee in his hands, his fingers wrapped tightly around the warm mug. He was alone in the small observation room, permitted only this close to Fang as he underwent the next test. Soon as he was out of this one, they were going to move on with destroying him.

So where the hell was Max?

He'd made the coffee a good ten minutes ago, but couldn't bring himself to drink it. His mind was too troubled, his head jumping from one conclusion to another as he watched Fang dive out of the way of a helicopter and shoot up the other side.

_Keep it up, Fang._ He needed to stay alive. If he didn't, then he would be decommissioned sooner, and Jeb wouldn't be able to stop it. Max had already figured out Fang2 wasn't the real deal, so why hadn't she snapped and demanded information from him yet, or at least been in the vicinity of Itexicon's grounds? None of the lookouts had noted her or the fake Fang around the place yet.

Sometimes, she frustrated him.

"Batchelder." Jab barely turned his head to look over his shoulder at the door, glancing over his glasses at the scientist in the doorway. The man was stocky and chubby, so he was probably one of the scientists that took credit for other people's work and got all of the money.

Unlike Jeb. He was officially back to underling status since he pulled the stunt with getting all of the bird kids out of the School and raising them elsewhere. He hadn't had clearance, he hadn't even tried to get _anything_ that would allow him to do that, in case they predicted he would try anyway.

One thing he'd had was the money to pull it off, thanks to the salary he used to get back when he was an attention grabber like the chubby guy. He still felt he made the right decisions back then, even there were obviously regrettable mistakes visible now. One of those was ignoring Ari and vanishing for so long, but it had to be done to prepare Max for her mission.

Now, whenever he looked at Ari, he saw a mistake. A massive mistake. The scientists had pulled something and convinced him to let them experiment on him, try and make an eraser from an already living kid rather than an embryo. It had worked, but it was a constant reminder of the major mistake he made In the past.

Not only that, but he couldn't bring himself to love the abomination that was his child, because he'd inadvertently made the boy that way through his own actions. All he saw when he looked at Ari was the anger and hatred in the boys eyes, and it made him sick.

"Visitor." Jeb snapped out of his own thoughts as the scientist in the door spoke, stepping aside to let a tall, thin man step into the doorway. Jeb nodded once to the slightly greyed yet still familiar man, who nodded once back. Both of them looked round at the scientist as he cleared his throat. "Call someone when you're done, so he can be escorted out."

Jeb nodded very slightly to the scientist, who looked sideways at the guest before clicking the door shut behind him. Jeb turned away and back to staring down into his coffee, almost completely ignoring the man he'd been left with. He hadn't had any real contact with him for thirteen long years, but he didn't have a face you forget easily.

Especially when their kid looks so like them.

Jeb didn't lift his head as he heard the man slip past him and pull out the spare seat at the desk, plonking him behind into it but neglecting to pull his chair in again as he focused on the screen with interest. His face was blank as he watched the boy swoop and dive a few bullets from the helicopter tracing him.

Fang suddenly nosedived into a back alley, pulling his wings in at the last second and doing a running landing. He quickly meshed with the crowd of people on the street, sliding between them like he'd been there the whole time. A blink later and he was no where to be seen.

Glancing up, Jeb studied his old acquaintance. He had a steely mask shrouding his feelings but occasionally it slipped as he flinched or creased his brow. His hand was clenching and unclenching on the table in subdued anger.

Watching your son running for his life couldn't be easy,

"This is the last test they have planned." The man looked from the computer screen to Jeb and back again, sadness clouding his features as he dropped his guard for barely a second. Then it was back up in an instant as he looked back at Jab, his steely stare seemingly unable to unnerve the man with his hands wrapped tightly around the lukewarm mug.

"And then?" Jeb stared him down for a few seconds before looking away, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"He's decommissioned."

The man looked back at the computer, watching Fang discretely take a doughnut from a street stand and quickly merge back into the crowd. He took a large bite as he did almost constant three sixties, seeming to look at the camera a couple of times but not notice its existence.

"And we cant do _anything_?" He asked slightly more forcefully than he first intended. "No paperwork, no appeals, nothing can save him?"

Jeb kept his eyes closed, simply because he couldn't bring himself to look at him. He could feel very little heat coming out of the mug by now, the coffee was too spoiled to drink. Opening his eyes and glancing up, he took a deep breath under the piercing stare of the other male.

"John, when you signed the pap-"

"Don't give me that crap!" John finally lost his cool and slammed a fist down on the table, his shouts echoing off the walls as he raised his voice. "_You_ signed your daughter over to them too, Batchelder! And _you_ got her and Charlie out of this place once before. Why cant you do something like that again?"

Jeb didn't even flinch. His face stayed straight as John slowly pulled himself together again, his hand shaking as he uncoiled the fist that hit the table. Maybe he was beginning to regret some of the decisions he made in the past as well, at least, he seemed to be after having met his son for the first time.

"I wish I could." Jeb was still calm, his soft monotone barely piercing the air as spoke. "Last time I wasn't supposed to take them out, and I've paid for it. I'm no longer in charge of their project, so have no weight in what they decide to do with them.

"When you signed the papers, you lost all rights to him. To call him your son, to raise him, even to give him a name. As I did with Max, but, at the time, I was still in charge of the project, I could make sure they weren't pushed too hard, or decommissioned before they had a chance to grow." John remained quiet as he continued, his jaw slowly unclenching as his face became covered in hopeless realisation.

"I'm sorry John." He stated once before looking back at his cold coffee, stirring it absently with the spoon. "There's nothing either of us can do."

John sat back slightly in his chair and dropped his head into his hands, rubbing his face slowly. His eldest son was going to be murdered, no matter what fancy name Itex liked to place on the act. They were going to kill him, and it was all his fault.

"Max could still get here in time." He raised his head very slightly to look at Jeb, who was quickly downing his cold coffee. He placed the cup almost soundlessly on the table before looking at John, pushing his glasses slightly back up his nose. "He could still be saved."

"How is Max going to save him?" John was frowning now, his arms flopped back into his lap as he stared Jeb down. "She seemed frail and defenceless to me."

"Then you don't know my Max." A small smile invaded Jeb's face as he said it, his eyes floating to look at the monitor both of them had been neglecting up until now. Fang had an eraser against a wall by the neck, kicking it in the gut as he shouted at it, trying to get answers none of the erasers where he was could possibly know.

"She'll come for Fang because she needs him." John followed his gaze to the screen, flinching as his eldest boy broke the monster's neck and let him drop to the ground. "As he needs her. Without each other, the world cannot be saved."

John furrowed his eyebrows as he concentrated on the screen. The world cant be saved? What the hell was he on about now? He couldn't put the link between how his boy and this scientist's eldest, no matter how genetically engineered to be strong and scary, could have any kind of impact on the world except startle people.

"Itex is going down." He turned to look at Jeb, who was still watching Fang as he tried to make sense of his surroundings. "But it cant without these two to catalyse every stage of the process. It'll get covered up, everything will return to how it is now without these two fighting to bring the company down."

"Why does it need to be brought down..?" Jeb turned to look at his old friend again, seeing a small flash of fear in the mans eyes. He took a deep breath and pulled himself from his chair, slipping behind John and folding his arms on the back of the chair, so his head was very close to the mans ear as he looked back at Fang on the screen.

"Because," he whispered so quietly no microphones could pick it up. "If it isn't, your family is as good as dead."


	28. Rescue: Part 1

**Here be the next part. Because I've hit writer's block on everything else I have incomplete on my compy except this one -w- Isnt life grand? But, this one is finally up and moving again, which is good, as I have no intention of abandoning it. =) So here you go, a proper full length chapter for all you lovely people with this one on your alerts. Enjoy~**

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**Shortcake: Lol. Yeah, I'm not dead =P Just having issues with my writing ability. But thanks for the review ^^ here's another one. I'm still moving slow, unfortunately, so you'll have to wait a little longer for the dramatic escape scene =P**

**Rehab: I have done, and spat it back out of my nose onto someones shoe! =D**

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**Part 26 **

It was all too easy.

Not that Max was complaining, easy was awesome. It meant she'd have less problems to deal with along the way after all. But it was _too_ easy, all of it was. And it was beginning to make her edgy.

They'd gotten into Itex with no resistance at all. They just walked right into the main reception and asked when the next guided tour was. It was in ten minutes and, unless they wanted a private one, the tour was free.

Didn't they want a private one? Nope. Since they planned to spontaneously vanish half way through the tour, numbers would be brilliant.

Finding an Official Access Only door was a piece of cake, considering there seemed to be random ones situated all over the place that dodgy looking scientists darted in and out of like small children on sugar. It was also incredibly simple to 'get lost' in the maze that was Itex's corridors and find an inconspicuous place to hide near one of the afore mentioned doors.

Humans were fragile, especially the nerdy ones that made a living as scientists. It took one swift hit to the right place to bring down a scientist making their way to the door and steal their key card. A quick swipe and they gained access to the lower levels of the building.

Now it was time to find Fang.

"You got a plan?" Max tiptoed as quickly as she could down the spiral staircase leading deeper into the bowels of Itex. Nope, she didn't have a plan, it stopped at the simple phrase 'Find Fang and rescue him'. Problem was, that's also where her plan _started_.

That was also coupled with the fact that the Fang behind her thought they were searching for something, whatever it was the voice wanted her to find. She needed to find a way to loose him and be able to go off and search for the original Fang, before it was too late.

_**Fang is good with computers**_

_This isn't Fang._ She was trying to focus on the hallway ahead of them, the bright lights bouncing off the white walls in a freakily scary way to the school. Her stomach flipped over and over as panic set in. They could get caught, end up back where they started, in cages and tested on.

Fang was already reliving that nightmare. That realisation stopped her from running away as the smell of antiseptic hit her nostrils, burning her windpipe right through to her lungs. She had to get him out of here, no matter what.

_**The boy is a clone, Maximum.**_

_Are you just trying to distract me or something? I _know_ he's a fake, he just acts exactly…like…the real one…_ She almost fell over as her eyes widened in realisation. She could keep the boy busy by getting him to search the computer system for any details he could find on what Itex were up to, then slip away to 'find another computer to do the same', when really she'd be finding out where the hell Fang was.

_**Well done.**_

_Don't patronise me._

She flattened herself against plain white wall, taking a cautionary peek around the next corner. No one was about, yet all the lights were on. This was beginning to feel like a trap, but she swallowed hard and motioned silently for faux Fang to follow her as she jogged quietly down the hallway.

Fang2 was following Max's orders obediently, as he'd been briefed. She was the leader, he had to do what she told him to, unless it was something stupid. Fang always spoke up when he had an opinion on her stupid decisions, so he had to as well.

Method acting was a drag. But it would all be over soon.

Ten minutes after he accessed the files on Itex's plans and all the sins, Ari and a team of erasers would storm the room they were in. Maximum Ride would be returned to the institute and decommissioned like the rest of her failed flock. In the commotion, Fang2 could slip out and disappear, never to be seen or tested on again.

Max may not have a plan, but he did.

He paused on her command, a hand held up flat and palm facing him as she flattened herself against a wall. A scientist slipped out of the room barely a foot from where they were standing and both teens stiffened, watching him with sharp eyes as he folded a piece of printer paper before walking the opposite way to them.

Fang2 finally relaxed when the guy was round the corner, his happy whistling faded away. Max, on the other hand, was still stiff, alert to his return. When he hadn't reappeared, or his whistling punctured the silence again for at least a minute, Max finally pulled herself from the wall. She caught Fang2's eyes, then motioned with her head to her feet, a grin on her face.

She had her foot jammed in the door. Not all her on the spot decisions were bad.

She gently pulled the door wide open, taking a peek inside. It was an office, probably belonging to the scientist who's ambled out a few minutes ago. It was sparsely furnished, just a desk and a cushy looking seat, some framed certificates on the walls.

He'd seen them all before in other offices, but Fang2 examined the certificates as he buried his hands deep within his pockets. They were all prizes given out by Itex and its chains for certain achievements, such as having a recombinant hit three months of age before it keeled over. That was a pretty good age for most of their experiments.

He and the other bird kids got lucky.

"Think you can hack it?" Fang2 looked from the frames to Max, who motioned to the computer sat squarely in the middle of the desk. He wouldn't need to hack it, he already knew _all_ the passwords they needed to access the mainframe, just had to pretend to get it wrong a few times then 'suddenly figure it out'. That would signal Ari and his team to get down there and swarm the place.

He nodded once, keeping his face straight and his eyes empty to hide his apprehension as he jogged up to the computer and staring his sequence of wrong passwords. She wasn't watching him, her ears and eyes trained on the doorway as he typed and typed.

_Itex, Institute, School, MaxRide, Jeb, Flock…_ He knew they were all wrong, but all these would show up on the system, the failsafe words to ensure he was there with Max. After a minute or two of typing in the false passwords, he finally typed in the real one.

_ByHalfPlan_

Max looked over her shoulder as the computer burst into life, receiving a cocky smirk from the fake Fang over the monitor before he went back to work. She rolled her eyes as she looked back at the door. It was so obvious he'd known what the real password was.

"What was the password?" He looked over his monitor again. Max was back looking at the door, shifting uncomfortably as she listened for any movement outside. Why was she uncomfortable? Maybe nervous about being in Itex, or perhaps getting caught. He hadn't had enough time to really get to grips with her yet.

He didn't want to either.

"Flock," he lied as he scrolled through pages of Itex's plans, clicking print on anything that might be remotely interesting to her if she actually got out of here alive. Most of it was about something called the 'By Half Plan', exactly the same title as the real password. He wondered what the significance was, but didn't really read any of the data. Soon he wouldn't have to care about all of this stuff.

"I'm going to find another computer. We'll get twice the data if both of us are looking." Fang2 paused mid word and looked over the monitor. Max had a determined look on her face, her hand at the door as she watched him intently.

Was she waiting for him to approve?

Of course Fang2 wasn't going to approve. If she left now, the ambush would turn up to just him and nothing else. He was pretty sure an angry Ari and a team of bloodthirsty erasers who weren't getting what they wanted, to tear the great Maximum Ride apart, wouldn't be good company to him all on his own. They always had plan B, but not using it would be easier.

"No way." Max furrowed her eyebrows slightly in fake annoyance, knowing he'd say something like that already. "We should stick together." He was too predictable. This whole plan was too predictable. Any minute now Ari was probably going to show up and ramble about wanting to rip her throat out.

"I wont stray far." She pulled the door very slightly open as she said it and checked the coast was clear, opening it wider when the hallway was predictably empty. "Meet you back here in twenty. Code word if something goes wrong, ok?"

_Code word? They had secret code words? _Fang2 nodded once after a short pause. He couldn't think of a viable reason for her not to go off and gather data herself, even if he had no idea how to pull her back with the code word she mentioned. They never told him one, so even Jeb didn't know about it.

That, or he was holding out on him.

Max nodded back once before slipping out of the door, letting the lock click shut very softly behind her. Fang2 leant his elbows on the table and closed his eyes, slowly rubbing his temples. Why did she have to make this operation difficult? It was so blindingly obvious Max wouldn't let them separate unless she was certain there was a considerable positive outweighing the risk. She was like that, or so he'd been taught.

That meant she'd figured him out. She definitely knew.

Letting out a loud sigh, he leant back in his chair and slumped slightly against the back, opening his eyes to scan the data covered screen. All of this stuff…was it invented to give Max something to find, or was the data really real? Why would Jeb give him the password to something _this_ big?

"Maybe Max really is special…" he mumbled as he slipped his hand onto the mouse and went about closing all the open files, one by one rather than just logging off the whole system to input a new password. He was supposed to be a 'bad guy', lure her into a trap like a moth to a flame. It seemed to him he was more an obvious phoney meant to draw her in to search for the real article.

He was being used. _That _Itex would regret.

He took his sweet time closing the last few files before finally exiting the software, watching the password bar load again almost instantly. But he didn't type. He poised his hands over the keyboard, counting backwards from twenty with his eyes closed as he flexed his fingers in the air. He was confident by the time he reached zero Ari and his wolf pack would be almost upon him, and well away from where Max would be headed. He smiled to himself as he finally typed in the last incorrect password he'd been given:

_Initiate Plan B_

*~*~*~*

"What do you know about my family?"

It was whispered, almost as low as Jeb's comment had been, but he hadn't looked away from the screen. Jeb didn't look away either, watching Fang do a running start and take off into the air, closely tailed by a stream of erasers wanting to rip his throat out.

"Barbera, your wife," he whispered back without looking away. "Hayley, your eldest daughter. She's so like you people always joke about there being none of your wife in there. James is the one you have problems with. You have to lecture him about everything because it never seems to sink in. It never seems to stick. And Annabelle. Sweet little Annabelle…"

John stiffened as the names of his kids were rattled off, his jaw tightening. He hadn't been in contact with Itex or any of its branches since the day he handed Charlie over to them. Where had they picked up all of this information from.

"They know where you live, John." He suppressed a shudder. "Where you work, where they go to school, your number plate. Everything. And your family are on the list to be decommissioned if their plans go ahe-"

"We aren't genetic experiments." John was having a hard time keeping his voice level and low, his fists clenching and unclenching under the table. "Why would we be marked for any kind of termination just because my boy is decommissioned himself?"

"I don't know why you're on that list, John. But you are. And without our kids working together and bringing the public focus onto what they plan to do, many more families will be marked for termination along with yours."

John closed his eyes and took a shaky breath, flexing his fingers as he uncoiled the fists under the table. This was too farfetched, too insane. How could the company kill innocent, normal people just because his own kid was killed? He opened his eyes again, watching Charlie smack an eraser so hard in the stomach it fell from the sky trying to recover.

"How many families?"

"Half the world's population." John shuddered involuntarily. Half of the world were marked for termination if Itex got their way? Nothing Jeb was saying was making any sense.

"They're in." Jeb pushed himself off of John's chair and strode away, picking up his mug in the process. John swivelled around to look at him, but otherwise remained emotionless as Jeb studied a computer on the far side of the room that had flickered into life. "And she's left him alone, not wasting any time."

"Left who alone?" Jeb ignored the question as he placed the mug on the table and began typing, stooped over the keyboard as his eyes never left the screen. He could quickly scrambled Fang and Max's co ordinates, giving them the best chance they had of getting out of the place.

Plan B was to be initiated. That meant a lockdown of the area they were in after it was swarmed with erasers. If they got stuck behind closed doors, there was no way they'd get out of there alive.

"Left _who_ alone?" John repeated in a more agitated tone, standing up and walking slowly over to where Jeb was typing like there was no tomorrow. He studied the screen briefly but none of it made sense, scrolls of jargon and text flying over the screen as Jeb added to the coding.

Jeb tapped enter sharply and the monitor went blank, a small white line blinking on and off in the top left of the screen the only indication the computer had been used for anything at all. Jeb took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, taking a step away from the computer. He didn't look back round at John until his glasses were balanced back on his nose.

"You should leave." Despite the calm monotone, John stiffened. There was a certain amount of iciness in the tone, coupled with concern. "You don't want either of them to see you here, do you?"

His question was still ignored, but John could easily tell he wasn't going to get an answer no matter how hard he pressed. No, he didn't want Fang to see him in here, and if Max did the message would be passed on when she got to him. _If_ she got to him. He shook his head slowly under Jeb's intense gaze, who quickly looked away as he knocked on the door loudly twice.

"They'll escort you from the building." Jeb looked back round at John, who looked unnerved and stiff as he watched the door from the corner of his eye. "The information I gave you thirteen years ago is still correct. Is that understood?"

Thirteen years ago he'd handed baby Charlie, little chicken wings and all, to Jeb to be taken into the School. It was then he was given a failsafe, in case they tried to take any more of his children: If he received a silent call from Jeb's number, he was to get his family out of the house as soon as he could. He nodded just once before replying:

"I understand."


	29. Rescue: Part 2

**'Nother update. 'Nuff said.**

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Strawberry: When think of Charlie, I think of a 8 - 10 year old with brown curls and blue eyes...I'm not entirely sure why =P Thanks for reviewing, being my only review from the last chapter, but i wasnt really that fond of it anyway. Here's your rescue scene, btw =P

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**Part 27**

_Now, if I were a psycho scientist experimenting on a thirteen year old Avian American, where would I hide him?_

Max slipped almost soundlessly down the corridor, pressing herself to the wall as a scientist wandered past, a clipboard swinging with his hand at his side. She waited for him to be out of hearing range before jogging down the hall, taking peeks in every window as she went.

A couple of times she had to dive inside a random room and wait for scientists or erasers to pass. She felt like a twisted version of James Bond.

Minutes later she'd run out of rooms on this level to check and was searching for the spiral stairway, planning to head down to a lower level and check down there. Made sense to her to start at the bottom and work her way up. Least if worst came to the worst and Fang wasn't here, she'd be close to the exit when she found out.

That and she was pretty sure he would be near the bottom of the building. He was a high security risk in comparison to the many failing experiments Max had seen so far while trying to find him. For one he could actually _walk,_ let alone fight back.

Both reasons to put him deep in the bowels of the place.

She picked up her pace as soon as she spotted the stairs, dashing down them just in tile to avoid the scientists coming round the corner, talking about some kind of recombinant that was growing inside a woman in Arizona. A leopard…Max had seen one of those at that zoo, was a big cat type thing.

She shook her head. _Focus._ Soon she ran out of steps and was faced with another bright white corridor, lined with even more doors than the top floor. These rooms were smaller, made for actual testing rather than holding large numbers of failed experiments until they keeled over.

_Fang has to be here. If not…_

She didn't even want to entertain the idea he might be in a different facility, let alone no longer breathing. She pushed herself against a wall and peeked around the corner, but there was no one to be seen. No scientists walked the halls at least, though she didn't know if there were any in their rooms.

_Probably don't get many recombinant groups that last long enough to test. _Max sprinted between doors, peeking through the mesh covered glass to see what was inside. Most of the rooms were full of equipment covered in dust or wrapped in plastic sheets. Unused, waiting for something to survive long enough to give it a purpose.

Max swallowed the need to be sick and kept at it, jumping between windows and checking around corners. Every time she was faced with a room of just equipment her heart fell. She was running out of rooms _and_ time. No way would the fake Fang let her have too much of a free roam, since he was obviously supposed to get her back here.

That's when she saw it. Another machine, but this one had a human inside it.

From this distance she couldn't tell if it was Fang or some other poor experiment, but her heart did a flutter in hope. She pulled the card from her pocket and jammed it against the reader on the door, itching to run inside as the pad decided if the card was valid or not.

The amber light went red, and the door remained shut. _Crap._

Max took the card away and pushed it against the pad again, this time the other way round. The light flickered for a few seconds before going red again. Max slammed the card against the grid, back the original way again, her eyes jumping from the card to the person in the machine and back repeatedly.

Green. The door clicked open. Max wasted no time in pushing the door wide open and pushing it shut behind her, kissing the card before slipping it into her back pocket. It was then her eyes fell on the capsule like machinery in front of her, the clear glass exhibiting its inhabitant clearly for her to see.

It was Fang.

She walked slowly towards his glass prison and dropped to her knees beside it, pressing her palms against the clear barrier between her and her last remaining flock member. The glass was obviously thick, considering how far away he was from the outside of the pod.

She could feel tears stinging in the corners of her eyes as she studied him. He had healing bruises all over his face and arms, the scar on his face had been reopened and made longer, but at least someone had bothered to stitch it up. His skin looked pale against the purple and yellow bruises, his form fragile under the metal and wires.

He had metal bands holding his arms and legs in place, all of which seemed to be twitching randomly along with his facial features, like he was dreaming. Over his mouth and nose was a metallic and plastic face mask, strapped so tightly to his face Max could see slight red marks where it pressed against his skin.

_Hang in there, Fang._

She looked to the side at the computer the pod was connected to, which seemed to take up half of the room on its own. She stood and took a few steps towards it, studying all the buttons and switches in front of her, none of them labelled for easy use.

_**Look up, Max.**_ For once, Max did exactly what the voice told her to do, and her mouth fell very slightly open as her eyes fell on the screen above her. On it was the skies of some anonymous city, of which was swarmed with Erasers. The views was constantly focused on one form amongst the Erasers, desperately fighting to keep himself from being torn apart.

_Fang._ Max looked back down at the pod, noting him flinch and jerk at the same time as he did on the screen. They'd wired him up to this thing? What was it, some kind of artificial reality simulator? They were testing his strength or something?

_**Its his decommissioning.**_

_What? _She furrowed her eyebrows as her eyes fell back on the screen. Fang was looking very unwell, loosing tonnes of blood through a slash on his leg and completely surrounded by snarling and cackling erasers. He was done for, good thing it wasn't real…

_**If he dies in the simulator, it cuts his oxygen off.**_ Max's head snapped back to the pod. The glass was thick, the only think keeping him alive was the mask on his face, which was pressed so tightly there was no way he could even get air from any other source anyway.

_If the mask stops feeding him air…_

_**He dies, Maximum.**_

The Fang in the pod jerked, restrained by the metal bands as his body twisted in imagined pain. Her eyes flipped back to the screen to see him taking hit after hit, barely able to protect himself in the delirium of having lost so much blood. He would fall from the sky soon…he was so very high up…

Max's attention quickly flipped to the dials and buttons in front of her, trying to discern some kind of pattern from it, any indication of what might open the pod. They all looked the same, all completely ominous and stupidly blank.

_Damnit!_ Max mentally yelled as she lent her elbows on the table and held her head in her hands, rubbing her forehead with her palms as she tried to think. All of her common sense was flying out the window, her thoughts clouded by the fear of loosing Fang completely if she flicked the wrong switch. She was going to loose him if she did nothing, but that was way less painful than knowing she accidentally killed him herself.

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes. She couldn't loose him. She _couldn't_ loose the last thing she cared about. But she couldn't think straight.

_**Max.**_The clear, calm thought burst through her emotional turmoil, forcing her to notice she was still in the same predicament as five seconds beforehand. _**This is a test, I cant help. You have to do this on your own.**_

_A test?! You call trying to kill Fang a test?!_ The fear and anxiety was suddenly shrouded by anger as she tilted her head up to look at Fang's computer version. He was struggling to stay up as his fist connected with an Eraser face, which fell sharply. Every time one fell, another three took its place.

He was doomed.

_**You must understa-**_

"I will _never_ understand!" She pushed herself up and slightly away from the console as she shouted, her face twisted into anger at the computer in front of her. She swallowed hard, watching almost disconnected from herself as Fang took another blow. He fell from the sky, wings flailing but not strong enough to carry him.

Her head spun round to the capsule, where the real Fang seemed to have gone dead still. Had the machine already cut off his oxygen? Was she too late?

As the computer Fang hit the floor and the monitor went black, she dived towards the capsule and quickly flicked up every switch on the actual machinery itself, pressing every button. She lent against the glass, her face dropping to sorrow as she watched Fang arch his back and his chest start moving quickly and unevenly.

Then he flopped back down. His chest was no longer moving.

Max wasn't sure what to do. She'd done the only thing she could think of doing, and it had failed. He was dead, and there was nothing she could do about it. She dragged her fingers slowly down the glass as she fell back on her calves, tears flowing silently from her eyes.

Then the glass cover slid off.

Max was on her feet and yanking the mask off his face before the cover had finished sliding away, a hand on his chest searching for any sign of him breathing. His chest remained flat and lifeless, his mouth slightly open and his eyes softly shut. He looked like he was sleeping.

Without a seconds thought Max pressed her lips to his and forced her breathe into his lungs, pulling away to press up and down on his heart. The metal dug into her stomach as she lent back over, held his nose and forced more lifesaving air inside him, pulling away just to pump him heart again. She was shaking as she did it a third time, her last hope of saving Fang seemingly slipping away.

She did one more pump on his chest before leaning forwards to press her lips to his again, resigning herself to having lost him. She stopped a few inches short of his mouth, her eyes widenling very slightly as she searched him for some kind of response.

Did she imagine his breathe on her cheek?

Seconds later his erupted in a coughing fit, sounding like he was hacking up his lungs as he arched his back and cleared his throat of some kind of gunk. Max pulled away, shaking almost uncontrollably as she folded her arms on the edge of the capsule and rested her head on them, trying to get her panicked breathing back under control.

Tears fell silently in relief as she swallowed hard and clenched and unclenched her fists, trying to work the adrenaline from her system. Just feet from her she could hear Fang's slightly raspy breathing returning to a more stable level, try his arms against the restraints holding him steady.

"…if this is heaven, I want to go back to Max…" Max half laughed into her arms at his slightly hoarse voice and looked up over them, noting Fang's neck was restrained so all he could do was look at the ceiling. He was flexing his arms and legs, trying to remove them from the metal holding them without any success.

Max's eyes dropped to scan over the buttons she'd pressed in a frenzy, trying to find one she'd neglected to press that could undo the bonds on his body. It was then she noted the detail her panicked mind had missed. They weren't labelled by name, but the buttons had small pictures carved into them.

Most likely, they represented their functions.

She scanned her fingers over them one by one until she found one that resembled what she was looking for. This button had a set of handcuffs carved into its surface. It was the only button that represented any kind of restraint. Crossing her fingers, Max pressed it.

She finally started breathing again when she heard the metal slide open, glad that for once, something seemed to have worked out. If being stuck deep inside a genetic testing lab that want you dead classed as working out, anyway.

She heard Fang shift and pull himself upright after a few seconds and looked up, but he didn't notice her to start with. He was doing a three-sixty, looking for the reason the restraints had come off. After a few seconds his eyes fell on her, dark and piercing before they softened as a small smile graced his face.

"Hey."

Max pulled herself to her feet and wrapped her arms around his head, holding it tight to her neck as she bent over the capsule. Fang blinked and stiffened, taking a few seconds to awkwardly wrap his arms around her lower back as warm tears fell into his hair.

They sat like that for a minute or so, Max's arms slowly getting tighter and Fang slowly feeling more and more awkward. He was itching to get out of this place, now he was awake and obviously _not _dead, though being pressed into Max's neck was making him reconsider the deduction that he was alive. It wasn't normal Max behaviour.

"Maph..? I canth breaphe…" Mumbled apologies escaped her lips as she loosened her hold on his head, gently stroking the back of his head as he pulled away and looked up at her. Her eyes were slightly red and puffy, her cheeks flushed and tear streaked.

"You alright..?" He raised a hand to stroke her cheek, but she recoiled, taking her hands from the back of his head to wipe the tears away on her jacket. He leant his hand on the side of the capsule as he watched her compose herself, pull out the old unbreakable Max as her brain started formulating a plan.

Fang very quickly understood why the School had attacked Max through him. As she pasted on her leadership face and started studying their surroundings, rambling about the way out as Fang pulled himself from the capsule onto slightly jelly-like legs, he could still see the tear-stained and almost broken Max of a few seconds before.

Ari had stated the obvious when he'd attacked him in the trees. Max was an easy target when she didn't have anything to be strong for, and Fang was the primary target when it came to bringing Max down to a lower emotional level. He had to stay safe, to stay alive.

Or Max was dead meat.


	30. Disappearing Act

**Ok. This story is going to gain a new name when I manage to think of one. Because this sequel is going to be split into two. The next one will be based loosely around the third book, and will most likely be called Road to Heaven. Lol. It will also be the end of this line of stories. Probably. I'm not sure I liked the other books enough to make parodies of them, unless I do some major plot tweaking and book re reading.**

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**Strawberry: See above for what im going to do after this story :P This one itself will end in a couple of chapters, then the next one will be started. Though I plan to break the 100,000 word barrier before i stop this story. Because I can. Lol.**

**happyasusual: x3 I have the 'Just keep moving' song from Finding Nemo in my head atm.**

**mandy (16): Nyeh...I've rewritten that particular scene already, because it felt rushed at the end =P but im glad you liked it.**

**(23) Yes. My British words are da bomb -w-**

**menoa tree: wouldnt dream of it ^^ this ones going right to the end =3

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**Part 28**

The printer was on the other side of the room, and Fang2 had already logged off and was collecting the piles and piles of paper it was spewing at him. He'd reopened all of the files he gained access to using the '_ByHalfPlan'_ password and read a little from curiosity, since he had nothing better to do waiting for Ari to storm the place.

What he'd read made him sick.

It didn't even apply to him, all of the details. If anything, if they let him live, he'd be exempt from all of the jargon and regulations set out by the plan just because of what they made him. But it still made him sick to his stomach that someone could think that doing that was even marginally passable.

Mentally cutting all ties with Itex, Fang2 set about folding the papers and shoving them into every available space in his jacket, from pockets to actually shoving them down between his jumper and his shirt. There was so many of them, at least if he got attacked on the way out he'd be padded.

Loyalties severed, he had just one objective: He had to get these to Max.

Ari was still going to turn up here, since he'd delayed so long sending out the last password all of his Eraser chums would have been gone and making their way to this room before the alert could be sounded. They wanted to tear her apart too much to even wait a second.

He glanced up at the time and frowned. They were running late, stupid Erasers. You'd think scientists would give them some kind of intelligence if they had to track their prey. He shook his head slightly and slipped the last piece of paper down the neck of his jumper, making sure there were no more to come before zipping it right up to his neck.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, flexing the fingers of his right hand before curling them into a fist. He needed to keep up the charade, but not the Fang one. He needed to pretend to still be on Ari's side until the last second, so he could get close to Max again. His story needed to look real.

He then promptly punched himself in the face.

He stumbled slightly at the impact and leant backwards against the printer table behind him, dropping his chin to his chest and blinking hard. _Man_ he could pack a punch. A quick mental note was made to never hit himself again. Though it wasn't likely he'd need to.

Then he heard it. The loud footfalls of Erasers. He remained slumped against the table a few seconds longer before pulling himself upright, staggering slightly just as Ari burst through the doors. He stopped slightly short when he noted there wasn't a Max to pounce.

"Where is she?" Fang2 blinked as if dazed, even though he could see fine. At least, through his right eye. His left was swelling a little by now. Then he creased his face in anger and bared his lips right back at the Eraser in front of him.

"I would have thought _you'd_ have seen her go flying out of here just a second ago!" he shouted through a snarl, advancing on the Eraser child like he was a scared puppy dog. "She figured it out, Ari! She's gone to find the real Fang! And you're standing here like idiots asking me where the hell she is!"

He stiffened as a strong paw clamped around his neck, tightening his jaw as he struggled to breathe. Ari's face came inches away from his own, the sour breath assaulting his nostrils as Ari tried to intimidate his father's current favourite toy, besides the great Maximum Ride.

"Don't talk to me like that, _bird boy._" It was a threat, every word dripping with malice as his hand gripped tighter around Fang2's slender throat, who stayed deadly silent as he glared right back at him. Ari took in the swelling eye and grinned, yellow fangs baring inches from Fang2's nose.

"I was going to teach you not to disrespect me," he growled through a slightly sadistic grin, his hand tightening very slightly. "But it looked like Max beat me to it." Fang2 set his jaw and deepened his glare, hiding any kind of emotion that could creep to the surface.

If she'd really hit him, he'd be hiding embarrassment, but Ari would have no idea what he was really keeping from him, just what he wanted to believe. More like hiding smugness that he was so fricken easy to fool. The wolf boy loomed over him for barely another second before roughly yanking his hand away from the boy's neck and barking orders to the rest of his team outside.

Hopefully, Max would be on her way out by now.

*~*~*~*

Kneeling down and pressing her ear to the door, Max listened to the hushed voices just outside in the corridor. Getting into this place was a hell of a lot easier than getting out again, especially now the alarm had been raised about her being in the place.

She was pretty sure they'd have noticed Fang wasn't in his pod, like he was supposed to be, by now. That meant they'd have twice as many Erasers scouring the halls looking for them, as well as scientists with stun guns and God knows what else.

This wasn't going to be fun.

Taking a glance sideways, her ear still pressed to the door, her eyes fell on Fang. He was sat on the floor, head tilted back against the wall with a hand either side of him on the floor, his breathing slightly heavy. His jaw was set tight and his hands were clenched into fists. She frowned. Something was wrong.

Fang swallowed hard and took another deep breath, resisting screwing his eyes up as a wave of nausea knotted his stomach. He'd been feeling progressively worse since he got out of the pod, now reaching the point where he didn't even want to try and get up any more. His head felt fuzzy and weird, his stomach and gut screwing up every few seconds. When he walked he could feel his muscles twitching on and off.

_What the hell is wrong with me..?_ He pulled his legs up tighter to him and pushed himself slightly up the wall, feeling sweat forming on his brow. Vomit was rising in his throat as another wave crashed over him, a slight pounding in his head signalling a headache.

_Am I dying..?_

Max's attention was pulled back to the door. She pressed her ear tighter to it again, holding her breath as she listened for any signs of movement. Nothing. No voices, no clothing, no keys. The coast was clear. They had to get moving again as quickly as possible.

"Fang..?" There was a small amount of confusion in her voice. Fang half opened his eyes and tilted his head slightly to look at her, seeing her look directly at him for a few seconds before looking about the rest of the room, her eyebrows furrowed as she pulled herself to her feet.

"Where are you?" She wandered past him to look behind a table at the back of the room. Fang furrowed his brows as she walked straight past him and checked every nook and cranny in the room, slowly beginning to look more and more panicky.

Couldn't she see him?

"I'm right here, Max…" His voice was tired and slightly broken, in desperate need of something to drink and a good nights sleep. She span round, following his voice, and relief quickly flooded her face as she walked back over to him.

"Where did you go to?" Her eyebrows were still furrowed as she dropped down beside him, her hand pressing itself against his forehead when she noticed some sweat on his cheeks. He swallowed and closed his eyes again, the waves of nausea receding as fast as they'd come about. His muscles weren't twitching madly any more, just the occasional spasm.

"Was here the whole time," he stated as he unclenched his hands, using his palms to push himself forwards and off the floor. The movement itself made Max take her hand from his head, which she quickly pulled back into her lap as she watched him stand slightly unsteadily.

"No you weren't, you disappeared."

Fang wiped his forearm against his head, wiping the now cold sweat beads from his brow as he began to feel 98% human again. He could still feel all of the muscles in his body twitching as he tried to support himself, but a little less so than last time as he opened his eyes and turned back round to look at Max, who was still kneeled on the floor.

"I was there the whole time." He re-alliterated, his face finally returning to its impassive state rather than tightening in pain. She stared at him for a few seconds longer before shaking her head and pulling herself to her feet. Now was not the place to argue about trivial things, they could deal with that when they weren't being hunted deep underground by wolf people and scientists with tazers.

And if you thought that was a weird image, you _really_ haven't been paying attention, have you?

*~*~*~*

The erasers had gone down the stairs right to the bottom, beginning their search for the bird duo in a systematic way. It was unlike them, to think logically, maybe this bunch were more intelligent than the last after all.

Not that Fang2 gave a flying monkey's behind.

He was already half way up the stairs to the main corridor, getting the hell out of that nightmare of a childhood before he got shoved back in a cage himself. Having only been out barely a day's worth of freedom, that was at the bottom of his to-do-list.

Right under 'Die'.

Bursting out the top door, Fang2 ignored the funny looks a tour group gave him as he skidded slightly on the shiny floor and started streaking down the hall. He heard a shout behind him, probably the tour guide/ scientist's voice, but didn't turn to look. His sights were set dead on the exit door, the one he'd memorised when they entered the place.

Using the next corner wall as a half springboard, Fang2 caught himself before he could smack into it and pushed off it with his arms, sailing along the third to last corridor before he could finally breathe fresh air again.

Fresh air. He'd tasted it just weeks before they'd ambushed the bird pair for the first time. It was _so_ good compared to the stale and filtered air that was channelled underground to him and the rest of the genetic write-offs. It had scents and tones hidden underneath it, beautiful combinations.

Even cow pats smelled good to him. It was better than antiseptic, after all.

All he had to do was get outside. Then he could sit and wait somewhere, wait for Max and the real Fang to emerge and tail them. Handing over the sheets would take just a few minutes and then he was free. Free from experiments, the Director, plans. Everything.

He skidded round the last corner and stopped abruptly, his feet back peddling as he tried to come to a complete halt. In front of the large glass exit doors, the last barrier between him and freedom, was the last guy he wanted to run into.

Jeb.

"How're you doing, Fang?" His voice was soft and gentle, the lack of emotion echoing in it mirroring that of the original Fang, just a bit more flowery. Fang2 stiffened as he composed himself, putting on the shell the was trained to use to hide his emotions. This made Jeb smile, and Fang2's hands coiled into fists.

"She noticed straight away." He stated calmly as he took a few steps toward the only father figure he'd ever known. He was holding something tightly in his arms, something the size of an A4 notepad, but slender and metallic, as he smiled back at the boy in front of him. "She was supposed to, wasn't she?"

"Yes."

"So I was what? A distraction? Bait?" Fang2 was still advancing on him, anger beginning to bubble below the surface, but Jeb stayed calm and collected, watching the boy closely still with that never fading smile. "Was I made just to lure her in, then be discarded like trash?"

Jeb's smile flickered into a slightly frown. "You were very important. And your part is almost complete." The scientists slender finger stroked the edges of the metal object thoughtfully, his eyes focused on the teenager in front of him. "Just one last thing. Then you can be free, Fang."

He stiffened again and stopped dead in his tracks, eyeing Jeb suspiciously. If anything, he'd learned not to trust anyone who wore one of those white coats. They usually had a hidden agenda, or were lying thought their teeth. He pondered how easy it would be to break Jeb's neck and leave without hearing the rest of his speech.

_Too easy, _he decided, furrowing his face into a frown.

"I need you to put this somewhere Max and Fang will find it." He held out the small metallic object, a few inches thick at its widest part. Fang2 stared at the lump of metal for a few seconds before looking back at Jeb, trying to keep his face as set and impassive as possible.

Fang had a good plan, really. H noted that most of what Max had been thinking always showed on her face, or in her actions. The real Fang could bottle it up and hide it away, smouldering beneath the surface until an enemy came along, then beat the crap out of the afore mentioned offensive party. It meant no one could target him though his feelings.

He admired Fang for how well he did it.

Jeb's smile still hadn't returned as he spoke again. "You can fold those papers you printed into there and get away as fast as you want. But I need you to put this somewhere you think they will go. They'll need the data on it."

Fang2 hesitated. If he took the item, he could plant it and make a run for it much faster than waiting around for the kids to emerge. On the other hand, if he took it he was agreeing to helping Jeb accomplish whatever the next part of his sick little plan was.

"Please." Fang's face when from confusion and concentration to surprise in less than a second. Jeb's face had creased up, like he was going to cry, but no tears were forming in his eyes. He was taken aback.

Jeb didn't show emotion. Ever.

Taking a deep breath, Fang2 stepped forwards, grabbing the metal notepad and pushing Jeb away from the doors in one fluid movement before spinning through them. His feet barely touched the ground on the other side before he shot out his wings and took to the air. He had no idea who to trust any more, and who was on which side, but Jeb had always talked about saving the world, and Max was supposed to do that.

_I just have to hope I'm doing the right thing…_ Fang2 grazed over the hills and out of Itex's grounds, scouring his brain for a good place to hide the little machine. This just _had_ to be the right thing to do.

It just _had_ to.


	31. Cornered

**Ok. It's been a heck of a long time since I updated this one. For that, I'm sorry. Its been a loooooong few weeks/ months with setbacks and sadness and illness and pointless things. I know, its a bad ecuse, but through everything going on in my life atm, I couldnt find the moral to write a chapter. Heck, I could barely get out of bed some mornings. So, finally, here is another chapter.**

**This one is going to be maybe forth til last, maybe a few less or a few more depending on how descriptive and in depth I am in the last few chapters. Theres going to be emotion, fights, possibly drama, dust and a heck of a lot of confusion. Isnt like GRAND! =D But yeah, this will set it up for the next bit, which has the same idea as MR3 of bringing down the school and all its chains, but in a much more...different...way.**

**Because I can. Yay!**

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**Shortcake: Heh, you'll see. =P I already have half of the next one planned, up until a little excursion out of the states. From there it needs more thought. But yeah, at least one more in this series =3 I hope you keep reading ^^**

**happyasusual: Glad you liked it ^^ here's a long awaited update for you.**

**autumn.: lol, i wont stop yet, but im not sure if i want to go further than book three. We'll see =P

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**Part 30**

Fang2 massaged his temples slowly, his knees pulled right up to his chest as he wracked his brains for a place to stash the tiny laptop sat on the hill next to him. He'd been flying around for almost fifteen minutes and _still_ couldn't think of anywhere Max was likely to look once she and the real Fang got out of there.

Maybe he'd have to wait up here for them, and hand the notebook laptop to them when they got out.

He frowned slightly as he glanced back at the small machine next to him, flipping the lid open to slip the pages and pages of data he'd folded and jammed under there. All of that stuff must have been on the computer. This was the important stuff, he had no doubt. What was the point of handing them to the bird duo as well as the computer when they could read the hard copy off of the screen?

Sighing softly to himself he shoved the paper wedge into his pocket, flipping the computer lid down unnecessarily hard and planting his chin in his palms as he looked back over at the Itex building. Everything still looked calm and collected, no swarms of erasers blocking exits, not guards taking up positions by the doors, tourist groups were still being led in.

The lack of escaping bird kids was also a stomach turner.

He tapped his fingers idly on his chin as he mulled over the situation. He had to hang around and make sure they got this computer, whether he liked it or not, the problem was it didn't look like they were even going to get _out_ of the place.

_Did Jeb overestimate Max?_ He rubbed his face with his palm, his other hand falling on the little machine beside him. No matter how much Jeb told him she was the best and the most brilliant, she still had her flaws, he noticed. She took risks when things she cared for were in the firing line, she panicked and lost her plan when things got dicey.

Maybe the great Maximum Ride needed help?

Fang2 shoved the computer down his jumper and tightened the drawstrings around his neck, taking a running leap off the hill and souring back towards the building he despised so much. He didn't want to go back through those doors as long as he lived, let alone dive it the depths of the building as he was about to, problem was Max might need assistance, and she was supposed to save the world.

Without a world, he had no reason to stay alive.

He shot through the main doors without a seconds thought, drawing his wings in tight as he took a sharp right and went down the staircase Max had missed when they first entered the building. Jeb had always told him he had a purpose, and until now he'd thought he was just a decoy, an obvious replacement.

In actual fact, he was a key component. The real Fang and Max were going to have issues getting out of the place once their guards starting taking up positions, and those didn't include the Jeb still situated by the door, a small smile touching his lips as Fang2 did exactly as he expected.

He was heading back downstairs, back to where Jeb had always taken him for the attitude lessons, the time he spent learning to pretend to be Fang. He walked him the same way every day, pointing out simple landmarks towards the room on the way there and back. It had seemed idle and causal at the time, and to Fang2 maybe it seemed lucky Jeb had made a point of it.

He was headed to the explosives storage room, a plan already forming in his head.

*~*~*~*

It was all very well getting out of the pits of the building, but now Max was totally lost. Beyond knowing where the stairs were in relation to Fang's little pod room (AKA: A hell of a long way from it) she had no idea where the exit was when they reached the top of the stairs.

Though the left hand corridor was blocked with erasers. That swayed her decision to go _right_.

Fang was just ahead of her, his hand grasping hers tightly as they took corner after corner, blindly trying to stumble out of the hell they'd been dragged back into. Everywhere seemed to lead to more corridors and more locked doors. Fate was certainly not on their side today.

Shoving his way through another door, Fang skidded to a halt on the thin metal walkway above a vat of something bright orange and bubbling. Max went face first into his back and recoiled slightly, peeking around his side to see who was blocking the way.

Anne Freakin' Walker. It was Halloween come early.

Max tensed at the same time Fang did, both sets of eyes focused on the gun in her hand as they tried to regain their breath. She dared look round as the erasers finally caught up with them, blocking their only way out other than the Maniacal Mother Figure in front of them. She frowned slightly. The ever present sneering of Ari wasn't present. Wasn't like him to miss a party.

"Well," Fang breathed, his head tilted slightly to talk into Max's ear. "She looks friendly."

*~*~*~*

He honestly had no idea what he was doing, so Fang2 just picked up everything he could fit into his jacket that looking like it might explode with a really big bang. On top of that he found some fuse wire. Considering the fuses on half the stuff he'd picked up would barely last a second once it was lit, he considered this very important stuff.

"Well well, the Fake freak came back." He didn't even flinch as Ari's sour, gruff voice pierced the silence. He continued to stuff objects and fuse into his jacket until it could hold no more, then slipped his hand into his pocket and clamped his fingers around the folded paper before spinning on the spot.

"Ari," he said straight faced, still mimicking Fang's ability to not portray the emotions playing in his head. Fear, apprehension, concern. He was itching to smack the wolf in the face and make a run past him, to get to Max and Fang before it was too late. But that was just an idea.

He'd get caught before he got far. Then be made into a punching bag.

"Wanted some sense beaten into you, Bird Boy? I can do that for you." Agitation played on the wolf boy's face as Fang2's own expression refused to change. He shoved his other hand in his pocket with the explosives, a seriously piercing look plastered over his features.

"I'm here to warn you." He stated simply, taking a few steps towards the Eraser blocking the door. Below the surface his legs felt like jelly, his hands feeling like they would shake uncontrollably if he wasn't gripping the paper and an explosive so hard,

He absently wondered if it was safe to squeeze explosives as Ari's face creased in confusion. "Warn me?"

Fang2 slipped his hand from his pocket and held the papers out to the boy, who simply looked down at them stupidly, like he couldn't tell what it was. "It's the details of the ByHalfPlan." Fang stated simply, expecting the further confusion that clouded the lupine hybrid's features. "All I suggest is you read it."

"Why?" Ari growled, annoyed by the kid's suddenly almost indifferent attitude. He'd shown him fear before, terror. Now he was acting too much like the real Fang. It almost made him want to rip his throat out.

"Just read," he stated again, pausing as Ari hesitated before snatching the papers from him. Fang2 placed the hand back in his pocket again afterwards, watching the boy as he flipped open the first page of many and scanned the words.

"I'll be on the beach, where I replaced Fang." He stated as he stepped past the wolf boy, who's expression was getting sadder and more confused by the seconds. "Whatever you decide, you know where to find me. I'll stay for two days, then I'll be gone for good."

Ari looked up at the bird boy as he pulled the door wide open, a small bit of fuse wire sticking out of the boys collar. He was planning some major damage, so why wasn't Ari jumping at the chance to stop him? That, he couldn't even answer himself.

"Why..?" he queried, lost for words as he tried to question the near silent boy. Fang2 looked over his shoulder after slipping out of the doorway, his hand holding the door open just enough to whisper his reply.

"No one deserves that fate. Its only fair you get a chance to run, too."

*~*~*~*

"You're supposed to be dead."

Well, that was a welcoming opening from a previous adoptive mother, if Max did say so herself. She twisted her face into a glare as she stepped up to stand next to Fang rather than behind him, pulling her hand from his grasp as she prepared to kick some major butt.

She felt Fang shrug next to her. "I'm bad at dying." Max couldn't help but smile very slightly at the comment. That was three attempts that had been made on his life at least, all of which had failed miserably at the hands of erasers and even the Itex company itself.

Anne's face grimaced at the cockiness she was sure Fang was hiding under his silent, carefully guarded exterior. The boy's hands were deep in his pockets, his face bored and unreadable as he stared her down. His piercing eyes were unsettling, and she repositioned her finger on the trigger.

Damn unnerving teen.

"You wont be getting out of this one," she stated evenly, easily holding her stare against Fang's as she continued. "The By Half Plan is to be initiated as soon as possible, starting with you two." Max furrowed her eyebrows slightly, folding her arms across her chest.

"By Half Plan?" She queried, an eyebrow raised slightly as she studied what used to be a mother figure to her. Anne smiled unnervingly and Max shifted from one foot to the other, leaning slightly into Fang's shoulder to remind herself he was definitely there. That she wasn't on her own.

"The details aren't important," Anne stated, raising her arms to motion to the room around her. "All of this, everything we used to manufacture, to endorse, was a cover. It provided funds and a way to pursue research we found much more rewarding. Research like you two and your precious Flock."

Max's glower deepened. She was probably behind her Flock's extermination.

"However, we now have a new goal." Anne continued, a sparkle in her eyes as she eyed the inferior recombinant groups in front of her. "Stronger humans we create or have the ability to survive the By Half plan will be allowed to live. The rest of the human race can repopulate the earth, but under much more control.

"No one will ever be hungry." She stated, her arms now by her sides, a smile across her lips "And we'll be stronger. As a race, humans will be so much more advanced."

It was getting increasingly harder to look bored, but Fang set his jaw as the information sank into his head. Even without the proper paperwork to skim through it was obvious the aim of the whole project was clearly exhibited in the title. They were going to wipe out half of the world's population.

Him and Max included.

"That's sick!" Max exploded, her fists clenching and unclenching slowly, anger bubbling below her skin. "Everyone out there has the right to be alive, no matter how freakin' advanced or crappy you believe their genes to be! What gives you the right to decide who lives and who dies?"

"Science beyond your imagination," Anne stated, the smile never leaving her lips. "Since we first made you and the pathetic excuse for a Flock Batchelder wanted us so badly to fund, we have made many more advances. We can control the genes that come to light, we can effect how well they come through, when they come through."

"You're playing God," Fang stated gently, clenching his jaw. Anne smile only grew wider.

"If that's what you want to call it, boy." she stated, raising the gun and aiming it at his head. Max felt him stiffen next to her, at almost the same time she did. Erasers behind and Anne with a gun in front. Even if they took to the air in this huge factory they'd be sitting ducks for a shot through the wings, down and dead in seconds.

This was the end.

"There's no where to run," Anne stated, the smile finally leaving her lips as she steadied the gun, holding her arm straight out. "Who wants to be the first to die?"

Max was frantically looking about her in the calmest way she could pretend to be totally fine, her eyes flicking one way and another, trying to find a last second savour, but there wasn't even a huge glass window they could break through. Just the air in the huge factory room and the bubbling liquid below.

She felt Fang take a step forwards and instinctively grabbed him arm, pulling him back next to her, stopping him from offering himself up as target practice. Anne was beginning to look impatient, her lips pierced to a thin line as she waited for one of them to talk.

Max was dumb, fighting the tears from her eyes as Fang's arm wrapped itself around her waist. He knew exactly the same thing as her. They were screwed. Royally. And with no Flock there was no chance of a last second reprieve.

_This is it, _Max thought sadly, letting Fang's other hand guide her head into his shoulder. Anne steadied the gun at the youngest adolescent's head, figuring the tall, dark boy would be more of an issue on his own than Max. His sharp gaze watched her every movement, never leaving her eyes as they bored a hole into her skull.

She hesitated. For just a second. It was within that second the wall of the factory exploded, and everything became shrouded by dust.


	32. Anybody? No? Dust

**You may have noticed the name of this fic has changed. I told you it would, lol =P This seemed the most apt title I could come up with at the time, but I'm really bad at titles, so hopefully you think it fits x3**

**This had about two chapters left as an estimate. Maybe three, maybe one. We'll see. But, this is certainly nearly at its end, and then I'll start writing a buffer up for the next one before I start publishing it. It wont be too long after this one finishes that it'll start being posted up, that I promise. And I already know the title, yay x3**

**Fires of Hell. Keep an eye out for it. =3

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**Strawberry Shortcake: You have a whole review thing to yourself today =P Cliffy's are fuuuuun though...hehe x3 here's an update for you, enjoy.

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**Part 31**

He pulled Max tighter into his shoulder as soon as the explosion sounded, holding her tight around her middle and wrapping an arm protectively around her head. Her face was drawn right into his shirt, protecting it from dust and debris as Fang tried to hide his own in her hair, but it wasn't nearly as effective.

Max pulled her face from his chest as soon as Fang started hacking and coughing. Taking deep, calming breaths as she assessed the situation. She gave a little choked cough as dust invaded her air sacs, but she was no where near as bad as everyone else, who were coughing up their lungs.

The erasers behind them sounded like they had whooping cough. They were doubled over, smothered from head to foot in thick dust, coughing up their lungs. They were closer to the blast than the bird couple and Anne, and that showed in how much of the stuff stuck to their grotesque fur.

_Anne_. Max span her head to look at the woman. She hadn't expected the blast either, apparently, because the right hand side of her suit was caked in thick dust, the left side slightly greyed by it as she bent over and coughed the crap from her lungs.

Max quickly ducked out of Fang's grasp, holding her breath to avoid even more dust getting into her throat as she closed the distance between her and Anne, unnoticed by the red faced woman as she coughed her guts up.

Barely a second later, Max's boot came into contact with the woman's gun hand.

The woman let out a gargled, hoarse cry and dropped the gun on impact, the small amount of momentum left from the kick carrying it over the side and into the orange liquid below. Max pulled up her jumper and pressed it over her mouth and nose, watching the gun fall with a hidden smile until it made a satisfying 'plop' into the liquid below.

It was at this point Anne looked terrified, her eyes wide as she continued to cough away the dust. Max watched her take a few steps backwards away from the girl she had been so close to killing just seconds before, the girl strong enough to break her neck in less than a second, but she wasn't even trying, wasn't even threatening it.

Anne frowned. "Go on," her voice was hoarse as she struggled to get the words out, immediately falling back into a coughing fit before she was able to continue. "Finish me."

Max dropped her jumper back over her stomach and folded her arms across her chest, the thick dust in the air settling to an irritation rather than an issue. She waited for Anne to pull herself upright, her face flushed and her eyes puffy from coughing her lungs up for so long. Max took one step forwards, closing the gap between them in a single stride to be nose to nose with Anne, literally.

"No." she stated defiantly. "Because I'm better than you."

"Max," Fang's cough-choked voice pulled her attention back to him, his face uncharacteristically flushed as he tried to jar the debris from his lungs and air sacs. He didn't even have to say what he was thinking, one look said it all.

Sprinting back towards him, Max shook her wings out of the intents next to her spine, one arm over her face to stop too much dust catching a ride in her windpipe. You could finally see clearly again, a few specs of dust shrouding the air showing in the bright light filling the room from the hole in the wall. Max frowned slightly just as she got next to Fang, who was preparing to jump. There was a shadow in the bright light. Human shaped.

Then it threw out wings, and Max knew who it was instantly.

Before she could say anything the shadow was gone, and Fang was already leaping off the raised walkway. The rush of air he created snapped her back to reality and she leapt after him, just avoiding a very dusty eraser's mitt as it made a grab for her ankle.

"Go after them!" A strained Anne's voice sounded as Max and Fang both hit the ground running, wings itching to be freed as the sunlight enveloped them. As soon as he was through the gap Fang stopped and flicked his head round, making sure Max was right behind him. Thankfully she was.

When she was next to him he grabbed her round the waist and launched her into the air, throwing out his own dark wings and pulling himself off of the grass in one swoop, his feathers barely touching the ground on the down stroke. Greyed and choking erasers soon followed them out of the gap and up into the sky, but this time they had everything going for them.

And it was an easy fight.

Max blanked the flash photography and shouts of the people below them. The tourists of the Itex building, having been herded out because of the explosion, were now being treated to a most unique air show.

Bird vs. Beast.

Fang grabbed the last one from behind by the wings and yanked them right back, the howl from the wolf man drawing a few screams from the people below, followed by yells and scattering as the body plummeted. Fang wiped the back of his arm against his brow, letting a shudder spread through him as the adrenaline finally subsided.

Just beside him, Max was breathing slightly heavily, her wings lightly brushing against his as she flapped just enough to keep herself airborne. She was surveying the crowd below, trying to find a familiar face she knew would be there somewhere.

That's when she spotted him. A small smile on his face as he waved at her. Jeb was amongst the tourists that had crowded round an eraser, who was gargling blood as he tried to say something. Max shot him a glare, furring her brown and creasing up her face, before she felt Fang's wing brush against hers a little more deliberately.

She turned and couldn't help but smile. It was the first time she noticed how caked in dust he really was, his previously black clothes now a light grey. Every flap of his wings knocked from more debris from his clothes, surrounding him in a kind of grey mist as he hung in the air. His dark brown hair was completely caked in the stuff, making him look seventy years old.

"Lets get moving." his voice was still hoarse and broken, his throat and lungs having taken a beating from the dust explosion. She nodded once, and a small smirk turned up the corner of his mouth before they both turned tail and headed back towards the beaches.

They were safe again. For now.

*~*~*~*

It was getting dark by the time they made it back to the beach, the side where she'd figured out Fang2 was a carbon copy and not the real deal. The beach was thankfully empty as the couple touched down close to the water.

He let Max go first, knowing too well he'd have a few cuts to clean as well as the dust, and turned his back while Max pulled off her grimy clothes and washed the dirt off of them. His mum had packed them spares in the bags for them, so it made sense to change into those and wash their normal clothes for now.

They'd probably be dry by morning.

It was as he was staring at a tree thinking about that when Fang realised he no longer _had_ a bag. It had been left behind when he'd been replaced, which meant the clone probably had it stashed away somewhere or had handed it into the scientists in Itex.

Sighing, Fang dropped his head into his hands and slowly rubbed his temples. His stomach was knotting up again, though not as badly as before. This time nausea hit him like an overstuffed pillow rather than a steam train and Fang swallowed hard, stiffening his jaw.

He wouldn't tell Max. They had enough to worry about.

Max dipped her shirt in the sea and wriggled it abut a bit, flipping it over and doing the same again. She hated cleaning clothes. It's a good ting she and Fang usually seemed to rip them apart before they were due for a monthly wash, since otherwise she'd just get annoyed every time it was due.

She glanced over her shoulder at Fang, who had his head in his hands and elbows balanced on his knees. He didn't look too well. She'd ask him about it before he went to wash his clothes. She lifted the shirt from the water and inspected it, making sure it was as clean as she was going to get it.

Bigger things were playing on her mind. All the things Anne had said, killing half of the world, only their creations and 'stronger' humans surviving…had it all been a trick, or was it real?

_**It's as real as you are, Max.**_

_Long time no lecture._ Max thought as she wringed out her jumper on the sand, shaking it flat and laying it on a dry patch. She dragged the dusty jeans up from next to her and plonked them in the shallows of the sea, the tiny waves making it lap at her knees as she did so.

_**The By Half Plan is to be initiated as soon as possible.**_ the voice continued in its flat, emotionless genderless voice. _**You'll notice the effects no matter where you go.**_

_Is this what Jeb meant by saving the world? Stopping the By Half Plan?_

_**It's a component of many, but for now, yes.**_

_Great, _Max thought back as she scraped at a bit of grime with her nails, a dried blood stain most likely. _How the hell do you expect me and Fang to bring down every single branch of the school and everything in the America by ourselves?_

_**Not just America, Max. Think bigger.**_

Max paused, her hand up to her wrist in the cool water as she stared out over the water. Not just America. Se closed her eyes and envisaged the map Fang had brought up, when he'd pointed out what part of it was America. The rest of it was more landmass, more oceans…

_**The world.**_ The voice concluded for her. _**They have branches all over the world.**_

Her eyes widened slightly, flopping her behind back onto her calves as it sunk in. They had branches all over the friggin' world?! She pulled her hands up to her face and pressed her eyes into her wet palms, trying to resist the urge to scream.

_**You can do it, Max. With a little help.**_

_Help?_ She retorted, glaring angrily at the sea when she dropped her hands back to her legs. All of her trousers began to get soaked as her half cleaned trousers dripped all over them. _Help?! Who can we go to for help? I doubt the government know people plan to wipe out half of the world's population!_

**He's already there.**

Max looked round at the beach, the expanse of empty sand almost blinding in the dull sunset orange. There were no people around, no vehicles, and no birds chirping in the trees. Even Fang seemed to have disappeared.

_Wait…_ She studied the place again, turning on the spot and pulling herself to her feet as her scans became slightly more desperate, more frantic. She'd only just got Fang back, and now he was gone again?!

_Where's Fang?_ She demanded as she strode back to where he had been sat, looking for any kind of indication of being dragged away, or even a silent scuffle. She was sure she would have heard it, but there was nothing there.

_**He's right there, Max. He hasn't gone anywhere.**_

_Where?_

_**Exactly where you're looking.**_

Max screamed inside her head and tilted her head down, rubbing her temples slowly as she tried to calm herself. Maybe he went to the bathroom, maybe he was washing his clothes somewhere else, maybe he'd gone to fine his bag, as she couldn't remember if Fang2 took it with him or not.

Taking a deep breath she opened her eyes and, sure enough, there was Fang. _Right_ in front of her, sat as he had been the last time she'd seen him but with his head tilted up, giving her a quizzical look. Max jumped back a few steps, a tiny cry escaping her lips.

"Where the hell did you come from?" she half yelled, half screamed, flailing her arms slightly as she tried to find a use for them. Fang furrowed his eyebrows as he pulled himself to his feet, closing the distance between them. He stopped dead when he noted Max took another step back, like she was scared.

"I was right there," he said gently, holding a hand out to her. "You ok?"

_**Fang has a power, Max.**_

Max looked from his hand to his eyes as she contemplated that little snippet of information. Fang had an ability, that was a first. He'd always considered himself to have nothing of value other than his strength. Yet she couldn't quite place what the Voice was getting at.

_You could always tell me what it is rather than the cryptics you know, _she thought back sharply, hesitantly reaching out to take Fang's outstretched hand. He pulled her gently forwards, entwining his fingers with her as he raised the other hand and pressed the back of her forehead.

"You ok?" he repeated, taking his hand away relieved her temperature was normal for a 3000 calorie munching hybrid. "That's the second time you've seemed to not see me…" Max simply shook her head and held her spare hand up defensively, assuring him she felt fine.

"The voice says you have an ability," Max stated as she tightened her fingers a little around his, getting over the shock of him suddenly appearing in front of her. Was she going mad? She hadn't heard any movement, he _must_ have been there the whole time.

Fang raised an eyebrow. "I do?" he asked softly, his free hand wiping a few strands of hair from her face.

_**Think about what he said.**_

Max creased her eyebrows together slightly, ignoring Fang mirror her expression as she though it through. That's when it really sunk in. She kept misplacing him, he'd be there, then suddenly have vanished, then be there again.

"The second time," she whispered to herself as her facial features relaxed, a tiny smile turning up the corner of her lips. "Fang!" She stated, wrapping her free arm around his neck. "You can turn invisible!"

His eyes widened very slightly and his hand gripped hers a little tighter. That was the Fang version of falling over in shock, and Max couldn't help but laugh at his slightly open mouth. He went to say something, but couldn't find the words and snapped his mouth shut again.

He had an ability. He _actually_ gained an ability.

**Your help is already here, Max. Remember?**

She blinked slightly then frowned, turning her head left and right to try and see anyone else, but there was no one. She squinted slightly into the darkness, but no shapes or figures became more pronounced when she zoomed in on any of the borders of the beach.

She was about to challenge the voice, until a familiar one _not inside her head broke the silence._

"_Hi!" The word came in what Max's brain registered as an unusual happy tone for its owner. "Did you miss me?"_


	33. The World It's Big

**Strawberry: As I said, cliffies are fun x3 sorry for the long wait.**

**autumn.: Uh, remind me, because its been a while, Brigid is the ridiculously yound red head scientist right? x3 if so, then yes, she'll be in it in the end, if i write a story for that one. And thanks, I hope the namings are kinda appropriate.**

**happyasusual: yes, a long time I am sorry for =( Here you go, an update. Hope you still read.  
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**Does anyone else hate writer's block as much as me? Seriously, I've rewritten this chapter so many times because i hate how it ended up, its not funny. I've hit that with Secrets and Sacrifices too, which is annoying...On top of that I've had a few things going on atm, so I've been tired/ distracted/ working/ sleeping/ out making arrangements. They still have no diea whats wrong with me, so im still sickly and tired.**

**But. I'm going to Aussie to fluffle the bf. Its not all bad ^^**

**Well...is kinda for you, updates will be few and far between while I'm there unless I get bored... =( sorry for that. Please dont kill me.**

**Read this instead v and feel joy! =D

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**Part 31**

"You _cant_ be serious."

Max sighed and rubbed her temples for what felt like the hundredth time that evening. The sun was beginning to set orange over the water, the skies turning an inky blue above the red tinge. Soon it would be black, and she wouldn't be able to see the determined locked jaw of Fang in front of her.

Momentarily, she wondered if that would be a good thing, but shook the thought away. "Do I sound like I'm kidding?" she replied in a hushed whisper, lower than Fang's own slightly raised voice. For the winner of Mister Unemotional 2009 he sure was putting a lot of feeling into his words. "The voice says we need him, and he seems harmless enough."

"He replaced me," he stated again, underlying malice usually reserved for Ari tingeing his voice in way that almost made Max flinch. _Almost_. "He replaced me and had me shipped to that hell hole. I basically died. How is that harmless?"

"It wasn't _him_ that did it," Max emphasised, resting her hands on her bent knees as she leaned a little closer to him, her eyes drifting over his shoulder to the figure behind him. Fang2 was sat on the sand, a hand lightly to the skin of his neck Fang had been squeezing minutes before, the other running aimlessly through the sand.

Luckily, he didn't seem to be able to hear their conversation.

She and Fang were crouched in a Flock Discussion stance about twenty feet from the boy, hushed and, in Fang's case slightly raised, whispers as they discussed what they were going to do. The Voice assured her he was there to help, that he wasn't a threat. The problem was convincing Fang the same thing.

She could understand where he was coming from. If she'd been replaced by a pretend Max, almost died and then been told by her Voice she was the key to ending Itex and had to be kept with them, she might have thrown herself off a cliff with her wings tucked in rather than gone ahead with it.

And he was as stubborn as her. It wasn't easy.

She caught Fang's eyes again, wishing they'd sat on the sand rather than crouched as her calves began to ache. He still had the same expression on his face; eyes slightly narrowed, jaw tight and unmoving. She sighed and shook her head slightly, glancing down at her knees in the semi darkness. "He did what he was told to do. To stay alive. Remember when we used to do that?"

She looked up when Fang didn't reply and noticed he had his head hung, his eyes closed with his face towards the sand. His arms were folded over his knees, one hand flopped uselessly across them and the other gently rubbing his eyes.

He took a deep breath and looked up at her, opening his eyes as he did so. His jaw wasn't set any longer, and his eyes were wide and soft, like he was thinking something emotional over. He dropped a hand to the sand and leant forwards, pressing his lips to her forehead for a couple of seconds before finally pulling his lips just an inch or two away.

"He pulls anything funny, he's dead."

His breath warmed her forehead and seconds later he was on his feet, hands deep in his pockets as he padded softly towards the ocean. Max watched him go, the bemused look from him giving up so easily softening when he stopped just short of the waves and looked out over the dark, very slightly pink ocean.

He still let her get her own way, even after all this time alone he still let her get away with it. The second she thought she understood him and knew where they stood, her let her take charge again, or jumped ahead and took command when she least expected it.

It was slightly unnerving.

She turned and looked back at Fang2, frowning slightly that his face seemed to be illuminated by the small little device on his lap. His eyes were glued to the screen of whatever it was, his fingers flying over the keyboard as Fang's did when he was typing.

"Fang?" she called as she pulled herself to her feet, unaware the original by the sea also turned to look at her when his name was called. He frowned almost unnoticeably in the fading light and turned back to look over the ocean, his jaw tight.

He didn't trust the boy. Not in the slightest. Max claimed to have seen him fly away from the hole that was blown in the wall, but it could have been a trick of the light on dust. It was more likely to be Jeb who helped them out, but even that didn't really make sense. He bowed his head and took an exasperated breath.

He was never going to get used to this.

"Hello? Fang?" He turned to look over his shoulder, repressing the jump his body wanted to do before he caught Max's eyes. She was right behind him, her eyebrows furrowed in worry and a hand lightly on his shoulder. He hadn't even noticed her place it there, he'd been that distracted.

"You alright?" she continued, rubbing her hand down his arm as he looked back out over the water. "I called five times, and you didn't even react when I touched your shoulde-"

"Tired," he shrugged, not turning to look at her, keeping his eyes on the ripples of waves on the water. "S'up?"

He knew she was glaring a hole in the back of his head, but he refused to look around, letting her rub his arm even though he wanted to shrug it off. He felt her remove her hand and heard a soft sigh. She was getting annoyed with his detachment, like she used to.

"Fang…the clone one…has a computer Jab gave him," Fang raised an eyebrow and finally turned to look at her, his eyes wandering from Max's soft brown eyes to the mirror image of him sat cross legged on the sand. Sure enough his face was illuminated by the small machine, a smile spread across his face and a hand up in a greeting. He repressed the urge to clench his hand into a fist.

"There's data on it about the By Half plan." Max carried on, pulling his attention back to her face. "He knew the password and accessed it. We know where all the other Itex buildings are, where we need to go to take the company down."

Fang opened his mouth to say something but closed it again, unsure what to really say. His mind had already decided it was a trap, but he really didn't want to start Max off again. On top of that, it was likely he was wrong if the voice was telling the truth.

Instead, he strode over to the boy and took the laptop from him.

Fang2 blinked before looking up at the real Fang, his eyes wide and curious as he balanced the item on one arm and scrolled through data with his free hand, his jaw set seriously as he went through all of the data. He felt Max end up behind him and Fang2 rise to his feet, but didn't alter his concentration from the screen in front of him.

He felt slightly sick as he scrolled through all the locations, already placing them in his mind on the map he'd brought up in the library. There was one in England, all the way across the sea, another in Australia somewhere down the bottom end of the map over _another _expanse of sea, and a final one in Germany, which was somewhere near England, across another thinner line of sea.

This wasn't going to be easy. No wonder they needed help.

He handed the computer to Max and let her have a play with it, one hand dropping loosely to his side and the other slowly massaging his temples. They were going to have to travel the world to finish off Itex. This was way bigger than he thought it would be.

"These aren't all in America, are they?" He almost laughed when Max asked it, obviously alerted to it by the different country names below the listed places. Fang2 looked between them, confusion clouding his face.

"What's America?"


	34. Ponderings

**Strawberry Shortcake: Yes. lol. Here's an update for you :3 thanks for keeping reading even after my dry spell ^^  
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**happyasusual: Im scared i lost people due to the delay... =( thanks for still reading, I'll try to keep the updates up.**

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**Dudes. This is the _last chapter._**

**I know. I gave no warning and its really short, but it kinda ties up the ends I wanna tie up with a Max thought bubble and preps for the beginning of the next one, so I didn't wanna write any more for it. I hope you like it, and thanks a lot of reading this and the first one. If you didn't read the first one, you might be confused by now ;) if not, I love you kind of people anyway x3**

**Next one will be up in a couple of days. Look out for 'The Fires of Hell' if you don't have me on alert x3

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**Part 32**

She'd been hoping that the voice had been lying about the whole world thing, but apparently it wasn't. The computer confirmed that branches of Itex were located all over the world. Branches they needed to take out before the By Half Plan was thrown into full effect.

Not how she'd imagined travelling; to stop evil.

Max sighed softly and flopped her head against the tree behind her, eyes closed as she dragged a hand slowly down her face. She'd just spent hours convincing Fang that his clone needed to come with them, and then that there was a couple of things she wanted to do before they left America for far flung places like England and Australia.

Most importantly, they needed to eliminate the School, Itex and The Institute before they made any world wide footprints. It made sense to take those two out before any of the others, since they knew their locations and were close enough to be beaten down without too much travel.

The other thing she wanted to do was visit Dr. Martinez, which Fang had taken convincing over.

The vet still had the x-rays of the chip in her arm, the little thing she was convinced that housed the Voice along with allowed the School and its associates to track their every movement. It was going to be pointless aiming for these places if they could see them coming a mile away. That was just _asking _to be thrown back in a dog crate.

She opened her eyes and glanced up at the sky, smiling slightly at the stars over her head. It was a clear yet slightly muggy night, her clothes hanging over a tree branch as they dried in the evening warmth. The boys were sprawled out on the sand a few feet away, hopefully both sleeping after the days they had.

She glanced down and furrowed her eyes slightly, noting there was only one Fang figure laying on an arm on the sand. She was about to get up and investigate when an invisible Fang2 rolled over and became visible, a sigh escaping his lips as he fell back to sleep.

They did well with the cloning thing. It was hard to tell them apart.

Fang seemed to relax around the lad as it got darker, though it was probably through tiredness than anything else. He'd sat there after his long negotiation with Max explaining what America was, and using the laptop to bring up a world map. She also overheard them taking about leaving him behind here for a few days, and the boy seemed to take it well.

Pulling her legs up to her chest, Max folded her arms on her knees and rested her chin on them, watching the moonlight dance on the disturbed water. They were going to leave Fang2 here while they visited the Vet, so if he did pull a fast one on her at least he wouldn't know where she and Ella lived, and then it was back to plans to taking down Itex and all its little counterparts.

Maybe they could go back in for a few more explosives. They could split into two teams, on getting and setting explosives and the other letting out as many of the recombinant children as they could before the blew the place to smithereens.

She smiled slightly. It was vague, but it was a good plan. Now they just needed to wait for the sun to come up.


	35. Author Note

**Alright, Fires of Hell is up and running now, though only a few updates I'm not abandoning that one either - I hate abandoning things x3 Thank you all for reading this story, those of you just reading and those who have followed it all the way through. I hope you like the next one, its going to be a little....ok, a lot, different from the book. In a good, explosions and fight scenes and sneakiness kind of way**...

**And...I know Fanfiction frown on updates like these, and I'm sorry for it. Please forgive me? =3**

**xx  
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